


A Love That Will Never Grow Old

by scb17



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: F/M, One-Shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-21
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-16 11:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1345162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scb17/pseuds/scb17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shots about the perfect duo, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. From This Moment On

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna start off pretty fluffy, and kind of short. It's the first time I'm posting any of my writing, so bear with me here. Tell me what you think, and if you have a prompt idea feel free to leave it in the comments.

“You've reached Charlie White, leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” _Beep._ Meryl groaned and hit “end call”. Why wasn’t Charlie picking up? This had to be the hundredth time she’d gotten his voicemail today. Not that getting his voicemail was much worse than the last time she’d talked to him that morning. He sounded nervous, and he had rushed with his answers. Getting no reply to her texts, either, Meryl worriedly called Jacqui.

 

The phone rang twice. “Please pick up, please pick up,” Meryl mumbled.

“Hello?” Meryl sighed in relief.

“Jacqui? Have you heard from Charlie?” she asked anxiously.

There was a slight pause. “Uh, no, sorry dear, not since this morning. Is there something you need? Is your shower clogged again? I could send Big Charlie over…”

Meryl cut her off. “Um, no it’s not that. It’s okay, Jacqui. I’ll try him later.”

“Okay, bye, dear.” The line went dead.

Meryl was even more worried now. Since when does Charlie White not talk to his mother all day? He always called her if he needed something that Meryl couldn’t help him with, or if he hadn’t been able to reach her. Afraid that something had happened, Meryl tried her mother next.

“Davis residence,” Cheryl said at the other end.

“Mom?” Cheryl could clearly hear the worried tone in her daughter’s voice, and Meryl could hear her sit up in her chair.

“What is it, sweetie? Is everything alright?”

Meryl ignored the question and asked her own. “Do you know where Charlie is?”

Cheryl paused, in the same way Jacqui had. “I…I don’t, why?”

“I haven’t heard from him since this morning and even then he seemed tense. I don’t know where he is or if something happened or…” Meryl trailed off, tears forming in her eyes. _Where could he be?_ She thought.

Cheryl sensed how upset her daughter sounded. “Sweetie. Sweetie. Listen to me,” she coaxed. Meryl tried to control her loud sobs long enough to her what her mother was going to say. “Go take a nap,” Cheryl continued. “Clear your head. I’m sure there's a reason Charlie isn’t picking up. Maybe his phone died. Maybe he doesn’t have service. Go sleep, calm yourself down, and call me if you need anything, okay?”

Meryl nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Mom.”

“Any time. Now go rest.”

* * *

 

Meryl walked up the stairs to hers and Charlie’s room, their dog DJ already on the bed. Meryl smiled. “You ready for a nap, Deej?” she asked, and DJ wagged her tail and barked back.

Meryl laughed. “Alright, alright! Let’s get some rest.”

After turning the lights off and settling into the sheets with DJ under her arm, Meryl began to slowly drift into unconsciousness. She began thinking about Charlie, even in her sleep, as she’d done for most of her life. Normally it was replaying one of their favorite programs in her head, or remembering those special moments only the two of them knew of. But this time it was different. She saw herself running in their yard, and she saw Charlie there, chasing her. Both of them were laughing. She smiled in her sleep. DJ came soon after behind Charlie, barking her little heart out, and was followed by a young boy about three years old with curly blond hair like Charlie’s. It should have scared Meryl, seeing this unfamiliar child, but instead she smiled even more. She didn’t know what this dream meant, but she’d worry about it when she woke up. Right now she was focused on enjoying the only time she’d had with Charlie all day.

“Daddy!” the little boy called after them. Meryl looked around, looking for the boy’s father. She gasped in surprise when the little boy ran straight into Charlie’s arms. She looked desperately to Charlie, confused look on her face. Charlie laughed. “You okay there, Mer?”

Meryl looked at the boy who was looking up at her expectantly, then looked back at Charlie. “Um, yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. And Charlie could tell. His brow furrowed, and she looked away sheepishly. Damn that connection they shared. Charlie whispered something into the boy’s ear, and he nodded. “Come on DJ,” he called, and the dog gladly followed him into the house.

Meryl still couldn’t face him. “Mer, look at me,” Charlie said firmly, but still softly, and Meryl obliged, feeling his deep blue eyes on her. “What’s going on?” he asked her.

“Nothing!” she cried, as if she even knew.

Meryl could tell Charlie didn’t buy it. “Mer,” he said. “Seriously, what’s going on? Do you feel okay?”

“I—I don’t know what's going on, okay? All I remember is going to take a nap with DJ and then I woke up here and then that little boy starts chasing me and I just don’t know.” Meryl was near tears. Charlie instinctively wrapped his arms around her, and she laid her head on his chest.

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. You’re probably just tired.”

Meryl nodded. “Yeah, you're probably right.” Meryl pushed her head up to look at Charlie. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Who is that boy? Why did he call you Daddy?” she whispered, discreetly pointing towards the house.

Charlie looked at Meryl skeptically. “You...you don’t know?” Meryl shook her head.

“Did you bump your head?” he asked, putting his hand on the back of her head.

Meryl shook him off. “I don’t know. Maybe. Can you just…answer the question?” Charlie opened his mouth to speak when Meryl felt her body start to buzz loudly, like she had a thousand bees inside her instead of bones.

* * *

 

She jolted awake, seeing her phone was ringing. She groggily opened her eyes to see who it was, and when she saw “Charlie” on the caller ID her eyes popped open. “Charlie?” she answered desperately.

“Oh, sorry, did I wake you? I knew I should’ve called later—”

Meryl cut him off. “No, no! It’s fine. Where are you? Are you alright?” Meryl’s head was so blurred from her nap and the relief to know he was okay.

“Yeah, uh, could you…could you meet me at the rink?” he stuttered.

Meryl raised her eyebrow, and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Sure…do you need to go over a program?”

“Yeah, kind of…and bring your skates. I’ll see you soon.” And he hung up.

Meryl sighed as she got up from the bed and stretched. She walked over to her closet, contemplating what she should wear. She didn’t think she needed a leotard or her leg warmers; Charlie probably would want to practice footwork or a lift. Ever since they had retired after Sochi, they'd gone back to their rink to work as an ice dancing coach team, so they didn’t do a lot of the tricks like they used to. Meryl decided on a tank top with a pair of leggings, and a sweater before grabbing her skate bag and walking down the steps while tying her hair into her famous bun.

It seemed like a long car ride for Meryl, even though the rink wasn’t that far. _He hasn’t answered his phone all day, and now suddenly he wants me at the rink?_ She thought. What could have happened that he couldn’t talk to her all day?  _I guess we'll find out._

When she finally arrived at the rink after what seemed like three hours, Meryl saw that Charlie’s car wasn’t there. Confused, she made her way inside the building, she noticed all the lights were off, which was strange. She turned on the hallway light, and it illuminated the wall, where someone had put a baby picture of her side by side with a baby picture of Charlie. Smiling, she walked to the locker room, where she again had to turn on the light. There on the wall was another picture; this one was of a young Meryl after winning a competition when she was still in singles skating, next to one of a young Charlie in his hockey gear.

After lacing up her skates, she opened her locker to put her things away, and on the locker door there was yet another picture, this one of Meryl and Charlie dancing together as the 8 and 9-year-olds they used to be. Meryl wasn’t sure who was doing this, but she loved it. Making her way out of the locker room and to the rink, she saw five more pictures on the wall. The first was of them at Junior Worlds. _Oh, God, those outfits,_ Meryl thought to herself, laughing. The second picture she passed was of them in their first year as seniors. Meryl smiled back on the memory. The third was of them with their silver medals in Vancouver. Meryl examined the photo with a warm feeling in her heart, which grew even more when she saw the fourth one; them in Sochi with their gold and bronze medals, their “Sochi sunglasses”. When she reached the fifth one, it was a picture of Meryl from when she was going to her Dancing With The Stars rehearsal, alongside one of Charlie going to his. Between the two pictures was a large, black question mark. Meryl frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

Trying to ignore it, she turned the rink light on and in a flash the lights above flickered on, revealing the reason why they had all been turned off. Meryl gasped at the sight before her; Charlie was standing in the middle of the rink, the surrounding plastic walls plastered with pictures of them through the years. He held his arms out proudly, and Meryl skated as fast she could into his arms. The force spun them around in endless circles, and she pulled back to look into his smiling eyes.

“Is this what you’ve been doing all day?” she asked, her cheeks hurting from her bright smile.

Charlie nodded. “But, uh, I have to ask you something,” he said, skating his way to the lone chair that sat across the rink, not letting go of Meryl’s hand and pulling her with him.

Meryl rolled her eyes playfully as he sat her down. “Yes, we can have Chinese food tonight.”

Charlie laughed that adorable laugh that made Meryl’s heart skip a beat every time. “No, not that, but however I _will_  take you up on that,” he smiled, staking around in circles around the chair before kneeling down to her level. “Mer, you know I love you, right?” Meryl nodded quizzically. “And you love me, right?” Meryl nodded.

“Charlie, what’s this all about?” she asked worriedly, before Charlie put his finger to her lips.

“I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you skate,” he continued as if he hadn’t stopped. “And at that moment I knew that I’d found my best friend.” Meryl sheepishly smiled at the floor. “But when we got older, I realized that not only were you my best friend, but that I never wanted to be without you. That’s when I realized that I loved you. Like really, _really,_ loved you,” he said, his face turning pink, making Meryl smile and blush at the same time. “And somehow it didn’t stop there. In Sochi, I knew I never wanted to leave your side, and I didn’t want you to leave mine. I don’t want to hide what we have—what we _really_ have—from the world anymore. So I have a question.”

Charlie took her hands into his and pulled out a small purple velvet box from his back pocket. “Meryl Elizabeth Davis, will you marry me?” Meryl’s eyes widened. It all made sense. Why he was acting weird that morning, why he wasn’t answering his phone, why Jacqui and Cheryl didn’t tell her where he was. _Why she had that dream._ He had been at the rink. Doing it this. For her. It was all for her.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, and Meryl realized she still hadn't spoken. “Yes! Yes, of—of course!” she gasped, still in shock. Charlie let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and smiled in relief and happiness before slipping the ring onto her long finger. He lifted her and spun her around as she took his face in both hands and kissed him. They were both on cloud 9, and both knew they would never come down.

* * *

 

The whole way back to the house, Charlie never let go of Meryl’s hand, she never took her loving eyes off of him. They were having another one of their silent conversations before Meryl broke the silence.

“Thank you.”

“For?” Charlie prompted teasingly, and Meryl’s lips curled into a smile.

“For what you did at the rink. For those 17 years of being my partner in crime. For everything, really.”

Charlie rubbed Meryl’s hand with his own. “You know, from this moment on, you're mine. Forever.”

Meryl shook her head. “That’s not true,” she argued, and Charlie looked at her skeptically. “I’ve always been yours,” she corrected.

Charlie smiled and kissed her hand, turning his eyes back to the road. She was his. Officially. After 17 long years, she was his. And he was hers.


	2. Find Your Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie's friends insist on giving them a bachelor/bachelorette party, but Meryl and Charlie don't like being apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the first! Some of the other figure skaters appear in this chapter, so you have a little more than Meryl and Charlie this time. Also it's not as fluffy as Chapter 1, but it will be near the end. 
> 
> ~~Also--in case it causes confusion: a mock-tail is a non-alcoholic cocktail.~~

“Meryl, come on. You _have_ to. It’s your wedding for God’s sake! You only get one chance.” Meryl sighed. Marissa had called her significantly early for a Saturday, trying to convince her to have a bachelorette party. And Meryl hated to admit it, but she was really considering it.

            “Oh yeah, and what am I gonna do with Charlie? I can’t just leave him here by himself.”

“Um…” Meryl could practically picture Marissa’s tiny body curling up into a ball while she played with a strand of her hair.

            Meryl put a hand on her hip. “Marissa, what did you do!”

“Well…Simon and the guys are trying to get Charlie to have a bachelor party…that way you two won’t be apart too long. Since we _all_ know you hate that.”

            Meryl bit her lip and sighed before she finally gave in. “How many people are we talking about, exactly?”

Marissa squealed on the other end, making Meryl hold the phone away from her ear. “Well let’s see. There’s you, me, Maia, Gracie, Maddie, and Ashley.” Marissa said proudly.

“Okay fine.” Marissa squealed again. “ _But_ —I have one condition. We are _not_ going to a Vegas-themed club again,” Meryl said firmly, and both she and Marissa shuddered at the memory of their most recent find-a-new-club attempt.

            “Deal. This is gonna be so fun! We’ll pick you up at 7.” And she hung up.

 

Meryl sighed and shook her head before feeling two hands on her hips and at first she was about to bring out her self-defense skills, but then realized it was Charlie, so she calmed down.

            “So I hear the girls are taking you out, too?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Yup. Some club, I suppose.”

            “Oh, God, not the Vegas-themed one, right?” Charlie said, half laughing and half grimacing.

Meryl’s laugh rang like church bells in Charlie’s ears. “No, thank God. So what about you? Where are they taking _you_?”

“I think Simon said this bar that Alex found online. Thankfully the closest thing it has to a theme is an Irish flag on the door, according to Google maps.”

            “I don’t want to be away from you,” Meryl said, suddenly serious.

Charlie sighed and sat her on the bed before sitting next to her. “I know, I don’t either. But you know our friends. If we don’t let them do this they’ll never let us forget it. They'd probably make us go for our 10-year anniversary.” Meryl giggled at the thought, and loved how Charlie was already thinking so far ahead even though they had just gotten engaged a couple weeks ago.

“Ugh, you're right. And I love them, I do, I’d just rather be with you.”

            “Think of it this way: the sooner we go, the sooner we come home, and then we never have to be separated like that again.”

Meryl laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”

 

* * *

 

When the girls arrived, Charlie was on the last button on his shirt when he answered the door, letting in five girls who were as energetic as six-year-olds on a sugar high.

            All of them were dressed in glimmering cocktail dresses very high heels, which Charlie wondered how they managed to wear. Marissa had a purple feather boa in her hands, and Charlie raised an eyebrow at it questioningly. Marissa noticed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, the guys have something for you, too,” she smirked, elbowing his arm.

“Oh, boy,” Charlie said, before facing the stairs. “Meryl!” he called. “The girls are—” Charlie trailed off, seeing Meryl at the top of the stairs. She looked stunning in her sparkly black mini dress, and her hair was curled and brushed onto her shoulder, just like Charlie loved. Meryl walked slowly down the steps and held on to the railing— _Probably because of those heels,_ Charlie thought—until she was at the bottom.

            “You look…. amazing,” Charlie said to her; and she blushed and smiled down at her shoes. Charlie had seen her in all types of dresses and costumes, but this one took his breath away the most.

“And you look very handsome,” she said, smiling brightly and lightly poking his cheek.

            “Ahem,” Ashley coughed, interrupting their moment. Meryl and Charlie had forgotten about the girls, and both turned beet red. They couldn’t help it when they annoyed their friends with their “lovey-dovey behavior”, as Evan had put it. They were _that_ couple, but they didn’t mind, even if the others occasionally did just a bit.

“Right. Let’s go. And Charlie—no strip clubs!” Meryl said teasingly with a smirk; she knew that none of the guys wouldn't take Charlie to a strip club, they weren't like that. Gracie and Madison pulled on Meryl's arm, and Marissa put the boa around her neck. Charlie still had her other hand, and he kissed it quickly before she was drowned in the frenzy that were her companions for the rest of the night.

 

Not long after, the guys arrived. Just like Marissa had promised, Simon came in with a shot glass attached to a necklace. The rest of the guys had waited in the car. Once Simon and Charlie had reached the car, Alex had already begun being…Alex.

            “Dude! You're getting married. _Married._ How could you do this to us!” Jason laughed his boisterous laugh, and Charlie rolled his eyes as he got in the car.

“Yeah!” Jeremy agreed. “Now how are we supposed to have video game night?”

            “Guys, come on,” Charlie reasoned, “Meryl’s always been cool with video game night. That isn’t gonna change. She gets that spending time with my friends makes me happy. Just like I get that sleepovers with the girls makes her happy, even though it means constant squealing during a chick flick marathon and the smell of nail polish in the basement.”

The four guys looked at each other, all grinning. Did Charlie even realize he was smiling while said that? That he was staring off into space with a look in his eyes that could only mean he had Meryl on his mind? Probably not. But they weren’t about to bring it up now; they had a bachelor party to get to before Charlie backed out.

 

* * *

 

 

“God dammit, Simon!” Marissa screeched once they had reached the club. They had just discovered that the guys’ bar was adjacent to their club.

            “Hey, Alex was the one who found the bar. Blame him!” Simon defended himself, pointing a finger at Alex, who had tried to hide between Jason and Jeremy in the backseat. Even though Simon and Marissa were near the entrances, both cars could hear them.

By now Maia had already gotten out of the car and walked over to the other. “You had one job, Alex. One job,” she scolded.

Alex opened his mouth to speak before Gracie beat him to it. “Okay, arguing isn’t gonna help us. We have a responsibility. Meryl and Charlie _can’t_ know about this. They’ll be inseparable. And what kind of bachelorette party would that be?”

“She has a point,” added Madison, who had walked over in time to hear Gracie.

            “Alright,” said Marissa, holding her hands up. “Simon, you get Evan to park the car. The rest of you sneak Charlie in. _And stay in the bar._ ”

Unsure of what else his partner was capable of, Simon dashed back to the car, and hurried Jason, Jeremy, Charlie, and lastly Alex, who had to be rushed a bit more since he still thought Marissa was out to get him.

 

Once inside the club, the girls had gotten a table and some drinks, Maia and Gracie had mock-tails. Madison had commented on Ashley's purse, and after a while of chatter over the best places to find the best deals, Meryl excused herself to the bathroom. Maia was getting up to go after her when Marissa held her arm out to stop her. “Let her go,” she said. “She’s probably missing Charlie.”

 

Meanwhile, at the bar, Charlie was having his third shot from the glass on the necklace. The rest were having beer, except Jason, who opted for root beer instead of a mock-tail. Conversation had consisted mostly of sports, and talk about the skaters who may or may not retire before the next season, and which were most likely to win a title.

            Jason noticed that Charlie hadn’t talked in a while—and had barely commented on hockey, even thought there was a game on the small TV screen. “Hey, Charlie, you okay?” he asked, concerned.

Charlie drowned down the liquid that remained in his shot glass. “Yeah, fine. Hey, I’ll be right back okay?”

 The guys assumed he was going to get something bigger than a shot, because they all knew deep down that he wanted Meryl right now, and nothing they could try to do to cheer him up could equal the happiness she made him feel just by being in the same room.

When Charlie reached the bathroom—which had been foolishly built as a huge unisex space—he heard a familiar cry. _But that can’t be Meryl,_ he thought. _Meryl’s at her bachelorette party, and she doesn’t cry._ But soon enough as he walked around the corner to the next row of stalls, there was Meryl, a hand on the sink, her other hand holding a paper towel to her face.

            “Mer?” he asked, stunned.

Meryl’s head whipped around. “Oh, Charlie!” she ran as fast she could in her heels to reach him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

            “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he coaxed. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…I couldn’t. I couldn’t be without you. I missed your laugh and all your jokes and I missed the way you smile at me when I still laugh because they were still cheesy even though they were funny and—” Charlie cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. He missed the little things too, but he knew he didn’t need to tell her. She knew. And it didn’t matter now; they were together again.

            “Do you want to go home?” Charlie asked. “Evan was an idiot to give me the car keys.”

Meryl laughed and nodded. “Should we tell them, though?”

            “Mer, they probably don’t even know that we know the other’s here. If we told them they would insist on trying again next week.” Meryl’s eyes widened in terror, and Charlie laughed.

“Let’s go.”

 

* * *

After having noticed that Meryl and Charlie had been gone a while, Maia and Alex had searched the club and the bar. They were gone. The whole group then immediately grabbed their things and headed towards the valet, who confirmed they had taken Simon’s car.

            “Evan you idiot!” exclaimed Madison. “Why would you give Charlie the keys?”

Evan held his hands up in front of him and cautiously backed away from Madison, who was slowly approaching. “Hey, I don’t have any pockets! What was I supposed to do?”

            “Guys,” interrupted Ashley.  “Can we _please_ focus on that later? They could be anywhere and we only have one car, so we better get moving.”

The group grumpily mumbled as they were forced to squeeze in the back, Evan punished with the middle seat, and Marissa had declared Madison worthy of the passenger seat for having to deal with Evan every day.

            First they had checked the Davis’ house. Meryl’s brother Clayton had answered, since their parents had gone out. But they weren’t there. Next they tried Charlie’s sister’s house, where his niece and nephew, Avery and Vince, who were with a babysitter, made it clear that they were not there, but that the group should come in for hot cocoa and bedtime stories. They also tried the Whites’ house, where Charlie’s parents had said that they hadn’t seen them, either.

Once they had gone everywhere they could think of, including the rink, they were about to give up, seeing that it was almost eleven, when Jeremy had an idea.

            “Why don’t we check their house?”

Everyone sat silent at the realization. They just spent two hours looking for them around Michigan and it didn’t occur to anyone to check their house. Looking at one another, as if to ask ‘should we?’ Gracie said, “I have a key,” and that decided it.

 Once they had slowly snuck in, as to not wake DJ, wherever she was, Madison and Ashley had made their way upstairs, where they found what they were looking for. Calling the rest of the group up, they all peered in through the door to see Meryl and Charlie sound asleep, still in their party clothes, enveloped around each other, while still facing one another, with DJ contently asleep in between them, enjoying having her parents’ bodies protect her.

            “I guess you really can’t separate them, can you?” said Marissa, and the rest nodded in agreement. It was clear that no matter what, Meryl and Charlie would always find their way back to each other. Because it was fate.

 

 


	3. Stranger In The Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls take Meryl dress shopping, while Charlie and guys go to their suit fitting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you to everyone who's following along with this. I'm really glad you like it!  
> So once again, this chapter includes the other figure skaters, the moms, and Charlie's niece and nephew. And I just *had* to add a Titanic reference in this, because it's my favorite movie ever.  
> Also I have a couple more prompts for future chapters, but if you have a prompt you'd like me to do (and it can be at any point in their lives) let me know.

“Aunt Meryl, Aunt Meryl, can I get a big poufy dress? With ribbons? And…and one of those flower headbands?” Avery, Charlie’s niece, was skipping happily on the street holding Meryl’s hand. The little girl had been a nonstop energy ball since Meryl and Charlie had appointed her as the flower girl.

            Meryl and the rest of the group laughed at her innocence. “We’ll see what the store has first,” Meryl replied.

“Hey, the guys are already at their fitting. Apparently the tailor has to undo the hem on Simon’s pants,” Marissa laughed, holding up her phone so everyone could see Alex’s text with the picture of Simon in his too-short pants. “Being short comes in handy sometimes,” she added.

 

“And this is _not_ one of those times,” Marissa said, once in the shop. Meryl had insisted on trying the bridesmaids’ dresses first, and Marissa’s was a bit long, even with heels. Meryl, with the help of Cheryl and Jacqui, had chosen a lavender color, to match the theme. Meryl would never tell, but she’d chosen purple because she knew as much as everyone else that purple was Charlie’s favorite color on Meryl.

            The tailor came over with some pins and began fixing Marissa’s hem, and continuing onto Gracie’s, whose dress was a little loose around the hips.

Cheryl and Jacqui had been browsing the flower girl section when Jacqui came over to Meryl. “Honey, are you alright?” she asked, sitting down next to her.

            Meryl snapped back to reality, not even realizing she’d been zoning out. “Oh, uh, yeah. I guess…I guess it’s just starting to hit me how real this is.”

“Don’t tell me you're getting cold feet! You never get cold feet about anything! Except when you wear your sandals to the rink during summer,” Jacqui joked. Meryl smiled back. She was already so lucky to have a mother like Cheryl, but having Jacqui as her mother-in-law was icing on the cake.

            “No, of course not. I can’t imagine my life without Charlie. It’s just…I’m scared. I don’t want to lose what we have. I don’t want to ruin it. Jacqui, what if he ever gets bored of me? Then what?” Meryl was near tears, and she mentally thanked the tailor for taking the bridesmaids into the dressing rooms again.

“Stop that right now,” Jacqui said in a slightly harsh tone. “He could _never_ get bored of you. When he was a kid you were all he ever talked about at the dinner table. It was always ‘Meryl and I worked on a new lift today’, or ‘Meryl and I are going to go to the Olympics some day’. Sweetie, it’s lasted almost 20 years already. You're never going to lose what you have. And it can’t be ruined. Your connection is too special. Okay?” she asked, rubbing Meryl’s back.

            Meryl nodded through her slow tears before she noticed a pair of small hands around her waist. She looked down to see Avery. “Uncle Charlie loves you a lot,” the little girl said innocently, and Jacqui smiled.

“See? Even a little girl like Avery can see it!” Meryl nodded.

Once Maia, Ashley and Madison had gotten their alterations done, Gracie’s dress had been fixed, and Marissa had found a reasonably tall pair of heels. They even got Avery her poufy lavender dress and flower headband. Now it was the moment that everyone was waiting for, and the moment Meryl had been terrified of. It was time to find her dress.

They had agreed that everyone got to choose a dress, and Meryl’s pick would be the grand finale. Up first was Avery’s choice.

Meryl came out in the dress that resembled the dress Eliza Doolittle wore to the races in _My Fair Lady._ Mixed with a swan.

            “Wow, that’s…that’s a bold choice there, Aves,” Cheryl said, and the girl smiled back proudly.

Meryl blew a stray feather out of her mouth and attempted to do a 360, but nearly fell over.

“Aunt Meryl, you can’t marry Uncle Charlie looking like a bird!” the little girl laughed. Getting indirect permission to change, Meryl and the tailor went back to the dressing room and came back out in Marissa and Gracie’s pick, a Cinderella-style ballroom gown.

            Avery gasped. “AUNT MERYL YOU LOOK LIKE A PRINCESS!” she nearly yelled, and everyone shushed her.

Everyone but Avery agreed that it was puffier than it had looked on the rack, and Meryl was once again in the dressing room.

Next up was Ashley, Madison, and Maia’s pick. It was a sleek, strapless silk dress. Meryl was getting bored while _shopping_ , which was concerning, and she honestly didn’t think she would find a dress.

            But everyone thought she looked stunning in this one, and Maia excitedly requested a twirl. Meryl obliged, but didn’t feel a spark. Thankfully, everyone else lost interest in the dress when it didn’t twirl like it should have.

Next was the moms’ choice. It was a flowing dress with sleeves that went down to her elbow, and in the middle was a small jewel. It reminded Meryl of her Sochi gala dress. And she loved it.

“Oh, my God, Meryl, I think that’s the one,” Madison said.

            “Wait! We still have the grand finale,” Gracie reminded her.

“Oh, no, it’s okay!” Meryl said quickly. Everyone gave her a weird look.

            “Meryl,” her mother said sternly. “Go. We want to see your pick.”

After attempting to avoid it, Meryl realized she wouldn’t get out of this one, and went back to the dressing room.

 When she came back out, everyone gasped. It was a strapless, full-length tulle gown that began tight around the waist but gracefully expanded towards the bottom. It had a sweetheart neckline and lace at the hem. To top it off it had a lavender sash around the waist. At once everyone realized why Meryl had chosen all the purple, and she blushed immediately. The tailor came in and placed the matching lace veil on her head.

Meryl looked at her reflection. She had worn dozens of dresses over the years, and frankly she recognized herself more in one of her costumes than she did in this dress. It _was_ perfect, but she’d never pictured herself like this before. It was a strange feeling, looking at herself in a whole new light, that stranger staring back at her.

            “Do the twirl,” Ashley said. Everyone was on the edge.

Meryl took a deep breath and twirled in a perfect 360. The dress didn’t fly all the way up, but it had a swift movement, like a Disney princess’ dress.

“That’s the one. No question,” Maia stated, and everyone nodded their heads enthusiastically.

            Meryl beamed. She had found her dress.

* * *

 

Unlike his sister, Vince hated fittings. Sure, he was just as excited to be the ring bearer, but he was fidgeting like crazy while the tailor tried to tighten the cuffs on his shirt. “Uncle _Charlie_ ,” he whined.

            Charlie looked up at the pouting child. “Just a few more minutes, Vince. Hey—tell you what. You behave until the tailor’s done and when we leave we can go get ice cream, okay?” Vince nodded enthusiastically and Charlie laughed.

“Dude, check this out,” Evan said, pointing to Simon, who was with the other tailor. Charlie took one look and his face turned pink as he tried holding in a laugh.

            “Oh I am _so_ sending that to Marissa,” Alex said, taking a picture of Simon in his too-short pants, just as he rolled his eyes.

“You all suck,” he told them, and Jeremy gave him a sarcastic nod and thumbs-up.”

Luckily for the group, especially Vince, who was eagerly waiting for ice cream, Alex’s fitting didn’t take long, and neither did Jason’s or Jeremy’s. Evan’s had been ordered in the wrong size, however, and he kept tripping on the bottom of the pants.

“You, uh, you sure this isn’t Simon’s?” he asked the tailor.

            “No, this yours,” said the tailor, an old Italian man with a thick accent. The tailor inserted pins to mark where he would have to re-sew the hem.

Charlie was next, and last. He came out in his tux, a simple, crisp white shirt with simple black pants and a matching jacket. The guys nodded their head in approval, but Charlie lingered on his reflection in front of him. He had worn tuxes in programs before—hell, he even won an Olympic gold in one—but this one was… different. And he didn’t know why. All the other times he had worn a tux he was with Meryl—their _My Fair Lady_ program, the Oscars...but they were all, in a way, fake. He wasn’t pretending this time. He was really going to spend the rest of his life with the girl of his dreams. He knew how corny and clichéd it sounded, but it was truly a Disney ending. He smiled so brightly that his cheeks began to hurt, and Alex rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

            “Hey, shut up!” Charlie said. “The day you get married you'll feel the exact same way.”

“Agree to disagree; I have never and will never get as sappy as you, my friend,” Alex replied.

            “Yeah, okay. You keep saying that,” Charlie nodded humoring him.

“Uncle Charlie, I want ice cream,” Vince wailed.

            Charlie sighed. “Right. Just don’t tell Aves. Or your mom. Okay?” Vince nodded excitedly.

* * *

 

“I’m home!” Charlie yelled once he had entered the house. “Mer?”

Not getting a response, Charlie walked nervously around the house, and his heart warmed when he went into the living room. Meryl was asleep on the couch, _Titanic_ paused on the TV, and she was holding a sleeping DJ in her arms, as if she were a baby. Charlie quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture. Hearing the camera, Meryl stirred, and DJ woke up, jumping off to greet Charlie.

“Charlie?” Meryl mumbled, stretching, but keeping her eyes closed.

            “Hey,” he said softly, sitting on the edge of the couch. “Sorry, I woke you up didn’t I?”

Meryl’s eyes fluttered open. “No, it’s okay. I just needed something to keep me occupied before you came home, and watching _Titanic_ only wasn't working,” she sighed.

            Charlie’s brow furrowed in confusion. “How? Mer, it’s _three hours long._ ”

Meryl shook her head. “No, not that. But seeing Jack and Rose kept apart like that, for it all to come crashing down like it did…it just…it reminded me of us.” she wiped away a tear.

“Then I promise we will never go on a cruise. Not even for our 50th anniversary. I’ll even write it into my vows—”

Meryl held her hand up. “No, I mean it. Listen. We didn’t get together sooner because of competition. But now there's nothing holding us back. Jack and Rose,” she pointed to the screen, “planned on starting a life together in New York. And then it was taken away.”

Charlie didn’t try to crack a joke. He didn’t try to give her words of comfort. He just pulled her shivering body into his arms, and she was calm. He knew that it was especially hard for Meryl to be apart all day, and it killed him inside, too. It had been hitting her pretty hard lately; he assumed it was because they were so close to the wedding.

            Not wanting to make her more upset, he picked her up like a child and carried her upstairs, DJ at his heels. Once they reach their room, he gingerly placed Meryl under the covers, and climbed on himself, holding her in his arms.

“Mer, look at me.” Meryl slightly raises her head and Charlie puts a finger on her chin, so they meet eye to eye. “I’ll never let go. I promise,” he says and kisses her forehead. Meryl buries her head into Charlie’s shoulder, and he holds her closer. Because he meant what he said. He was never going to let her go. He was her Jack, and she was his Rose.


	4. At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before the wedding Meryl and Charlie are separated once again by the figure skaters for one last video game night and one last chick flick marathon before the big event, and Meryl's more nervous than ever when the day finally comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This starts the night before the wedding, and continues on into the actual wedding day, since I didn't think I would be able to write a whole chapter on sleepover/video game night, and because I'd already done that for the bachelor/bachelorette parties. Also, updates *might* start to be every other day since I'm going back to school, and remember that all prompt ideas are welcome.

Meryl looked around quietly. Maia, the last person who had been awake besides her, had just fallen asleep. Her bridal party had been very strict about no communication with Charlie, and the guys had been the same. However, nothing could keep them apart, and Meryl and Charlie had agreed to talk on the phone when everyone else was asleep.

            Meryl snuck out onto the porch of her parents’ house and called Charlie from her phone. He picked up after one ring.

“Hey, everyone asleep?” he asked.

            “Yeah. How’s DJ?”

“She misses her mommy, that’s for sure. She's been sitting by the door all night.”

            Meryl’s heart ached to be away from her, let alone hear she was upset. “I wish I could be there,” she said sulkily.

“I do too. But hey, tomorrow will make it all worth it.”

            “Are you nervous?” Meryl asked suddenly.

Charlie paused. “A little. Not about the actual wedding though. Just…the whole thing’s a little nerve-wracking. But I’ve waited long enough for this and the thought of being able to call you my wife is what's getting me through. Are _you_ nervous?”

            Meryl bit her lip. “Kinda. Charlie, everyone’s gonna be looking at me, and there's gonna be so many people and—”

Charlie could tell Meryl was about to have a nervous breakdown. “Hey, hey, hey, woah, calm down. It’s gonna be fine. Don’t pay attention to the other people, okay? It’s only you and me. And after that we can start our life together, alright?”

“Okay,” Meryl whispered. “Oh, shit, I think Maddie just woke up. I have to go.”

            “Yeah, me too. I think Jeremy just woke up. Hey—don’t be nervous okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be the one at the front in the suit.”

Meryl giggled. “And I’ll be the one in white.”

            Charlie laughed quietly. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Meryl replied.

 

She went to bed, and tried to sleep. She was excited, nervous, scared…it was a wave of emotions. And before long, she was out. 

 

* * *

 

 

Meryl walked slowly down the carpeted aisle, her arm interlocked with Paul, her dad. She saw Charlie’s back at the front of the altar. It was suddenly getting harder to walk; as if she were climbing a mountain. She looked behind her, and her train wasn’t caught on anything. She felt her head being pulled back, and saw that someone had grabbed her veil and was tugging on it. She looked to see who it was. _Tanith._

         Meryl tried to scream, but no words came out. She felt like Ariel from _The Little Mermaid_ in the scene where Ursula had disguised herself as Vanessa and tricked Prince Eric. She looked to Paul, but he was gone. Meryl panicked, but she was determined to not let Tanith take her Prince Eric.

Before she even knew what was happening, Meryl found herself tied up in rope and in the arms of someone she didn’t recognize. She watched in horror and Tanith walked the remainder of the aisle, hidden behind Meryl’s veil. She tried to warn him, she tried to scream. But again nothing came out. She watched in silenced terror and Tanith inched closer and closer. When she made it to the front, she turned her head and flashed Meryl an evil grin that made Meryl cringe.

 

Meryl woke and sat up in a flash, sweating and panting. She checked the time on her phone. 3:19 A.M. Crap. She’d been having these kinds of nightmares for the past few days, but her mother had assured her it was only wedding jitters. Meryl didn’t mind waking up in the middle of the night, but the reason for her insomnia was a different story. Normally Meryl would watch YouTube videos of her and Charlie for a little while to calm her down, but she was getting married in a couple hours so a) she needed sleep, and b) she wasn’t sure if the rule where she couldn’t see him before the wedding included seeing a virtual version, but she wasn’t going to take any chances.

          Trying to bore herself into three extra hours of sleep before the moms and her friends came at the crack of dawn to dress her up, Meryl tried to figure out the source of her nightmares. She didn’t know why she was scared of Tanith in her dreams, when the closest thing to a threat Tanith had ever imposed was a fake one the media had cooked up. She and Tanith had been good friends back in 2010, but somehow now they only talked when it was necessary. She didn’t know how or when or why they stopped being friends, and she knew she shouldn’t be _scared_ of her; she wasn’t even coming to the wedding. Pondering over what could have been, Meryl eventually fell asleep in her desk chair.

When the moms, the bridesmaids, and Avery came into her room at precisely 6 A.M., Meryl had somehow contorted herself into the fetal position.

            “Good morning, sunshine!” Gracie said brightly, the only one besides Avery who was fully awake.

“The wedding is twelve hours do we really have to start now?” Meryl wailed, stretching out her sore body.

“If we want you to look absolutely _perfect_ we need to start _now_ ,” said Ashley, giving her a look.

“Charlie wouldn’t care if she wore a potato sack,” Marissa pointed out, and Meryl rolled her eyes.

            “Alright, fine,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What first?”

 

In a matter of minutes, there was a frenzy of makeup brushes, lipstick tubes, mascara wands, dresses, hairpins, a hairdryer, an eye shadow pallet, and other things Meryl couldn’t identify all flying about. At one point Cheryl and Jacqui had called Paul and Charlie Sr., who were with Charlie, Vince, and all the guys.

            “Sweetie how's everything going?” Cheryl asked Paul, yelling over Meryl’s head as she brushed her daughter’s hair.

“Great. We’re watching a movie,” Paul's voice filled the room from the speakerphone.

            “A movie? Paul, you need to get ready!” Jacqui said in horror.

“Relax, Jacqui, it’ll take us 10 minutes,” Charlie Sr. said.

            “It better. And you better be here on time,” Cheryl concluded.

 

By 5:30, Meryl’s hair had been done in the same kind of bun she’d worn for her and Charlie’s _Scheherazade_ program, and the simple diamond headband was placed gingerly on her head. As for her makeup, Madison had expertly done her light pink gloss and beige eye shadow, and Maia had perfected her mascara, so her eyes popped even more than they already did. And they even managed to do all the bridesmaids’ and the moms’ hair and makeup. It was truly an accomplishment, seeing as their whole day had been based on a breakfast of coffee and 5-hour energy bottles, and a donut.

            Cheryl and Jacqui helped Meryl into her dress, and everyone gasped as she came out in it as Jacqui tied the lavender sash around her waist. While Marissa strategically clipped the veil in, Gracie helped Meryl with her plain but elegant diamond studs, while Ashley fastened the matching necklace onto her. The moms helped Meryl keep her balance as she slipped on her heels. She looked like a princess. She _was_ a princess.

 

Meanwhile at Meryl and Charlie’s house, the guys started to get dressed around 5:45, helping each other with cufflinks and ties every now and then, and of course with the boutonnière, the flower pinned to their jackets, which in this case, were lavender lilacs. No one talked much, so everyone tried to muffle their laughter when they heard Charlie humming “Get Me To The Church On Time” while he was buttoning his shirt.

            “Uh, son?” Charlie Sr. interrupted, and the rest gave him a glare for stopping what had been the best thing to happen all day.

Charlie turned around. “Yeah?”

            “We’re almost done. You won’t be late to the church,” his father chuckled, and everyone else joined in while Charlie turned beet red.

 

Both groups got into their respective cars, and arrived at the same time. Seeing the other car there, Meryl and Charlie desperately tried to look for each other, but no such luck.

            The moms got out of the car and walked over to the other one. “Get Vince and the groomsmen inside. Charlie, you stay in the car. Paul, you come with us. And you,” Jacqui said, looking to her husband, “stay with Charlie and drive him to the back entrance.”

Not wanting to get on Jacqui’s bad side, the boys followed Cheryl into the room that had been set up for them. Once Charlie Sr. had drove off, Jacqui and the bridesmaids snuck Meryl into the second room. It was really happening.

 

* * *

The ten minutes before they were called out had been spent with mindless chatter, but Meryl and Charlie had both been sitting in their chair, zoned out. They were still processing that the best moment in their life was a few minutes away, and no one was bothering them.

Finally, the wedding planner called Charlie out. He and his father walked side by side down the aisle before Charlie Sr. took his place in the front row, and his son took his place in front of the altar. The moms were next, and they walked together before sitting next to Charlie Sr. There was no “bride’s side” and “groom’s side” here, because both families had become one when Meryl and Charlie had been teamed up. Next, the wedding party was called out. First came out Avery, gracefully tossing petals onto the floor from her basket, and then came Vince, proudly holding up the pillow that had the rings, both earning an extensive “Aww!” from the guests. After them Alex and Maia began the procession, followed by Evan and Madison, and then Simon and Marissa.

Meryl was preparing herself by taking deep breaths as Ashley and Jeremy went out. She grabbed her bouquet, which contained of light pink hyacinths and strands of lavender here and there. When she saw Jason and Gracie go out, she began fidgeting and subconsciously squeezed Paul’s arm.

“Sweetheart, don’t be nervous. It’s gonna be fine,” he said, stroking his daughter’s hand in a coaxing way. Meryl nodded.

She heard the opening notes to the Wedding March, and Paul had to help her move her feet. The doors opened, and everyone turned to look. Meryl’s eyes went straight to Charlie’s, and he nodded at her.

 _Stay calm_ , he thought to her, when really he was thinking about how stunning she looked.

When they made it to the front and Paul finally handed Meryl off to Charlie, they looked at each other and they relaxed. The only part of the priest’s speech they heard was “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” because they were both thinking about the other, their hands tightly interlocked. They only came back to reality when it was time for their vows. And as tradition said, Charlie went first.

“From the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one. You were the best skater my five-year-old eyes had seen. I knew that we would be connected somehow and that we would go far. Farther than anyone would’ve thought. You are the source of my happiness and smile, and you always know how to cheer me up. I’ll be there for you through thick and thin. I’m here for you for the rest of my life. I love so much more than you can imagine, and that won’t ever change.”

It was hard to tell who was closer to crying, Meryl or Charlie. After Charlie repeated after the priest and recited the traditional vows, Vince handed over Meryl’s ring, and in a heartbeat it was on her slender finger. They only had a moment to gape at it, because it was Meryl’s turn.

“When I was a kid, I never planned out my wedding, I never pretended to be a princess. I always knew that I’d find someone that was perfect for me, someone who understood me. When I first skated with you, I knew you were that person. You knew what I was thinking before I even said anything. You helped me be more outgoing, and you always kept me safe. I’ve loved you every day of my life since that day, and I promise that as time goes by I’ll only love you more than I do today.”

Once again close to tears, Meryl repeated after the priest, before accepting the ring Vince held out to her. Meryl and Charlie stared in amazement at the ring that was now on Charlie’s finger, and they beamed at each other as the priest spoke those long-awaited words: “You may now kiss the bride.”

In seconds Charlie had one hand on Meryl’s waist and one on the back of her neck, and she had both of hers on either side of his face as her lips met his. They barely heard everyone clapping and cheering, and as they pulled apart Charlie whispered, “I love you,” in Meryl’s ear. She knew he did, but she would never get tired of hearing it. This was the start of her new life. And she couldn’t have found a better companion for it.

* * *

 

After coming into the reception hall after being introduced as “Mr. and Mrs. Charlie White”, came an endless line of congratulations, giving Meryl and Charlie no time to be together like they had wanted for the past 24 hours.

By the time the DJ had announced that it was time for the first dance, Meryl’s veil had already been removed and her hair had been released and it curled itself on her shoulder. Charlie took Meryl’s hand and led her to the center of he floor, just as the opening notes to “Faithfully” began playing.

“You look amazing,” Charlie said, just as other couples started to dance around them.

            Meryl smiled. “I’m surprised you're not wearing your _My Fair Lady_ tux,” she joked.

“That tux already had a Meryl memory on it. We won gold in that. I needed a new tux for this. This is a clean start for us. Besides, the tails on that thing were annoying as hell,” Charlie added, trying to lighten the mood when he saw Meryl was about to cry.

            “I love you so much,” said Meryl through the tears that were slowly beginning to fall. Charlie kissed her before she laid her head on his shoulder, and he laid his head against hers. They stayed like that for the rest of the song, vaguely aware of all the pictures that were being taken of them.

While everyone was eating the cake, which had been iced white with lavender rims and edible lavender-colored sugar flowers here and there, Meryl and Charlie were somehow able to sneak off into the only place they could: the supply closet.

            “When is our plane?” Meryl whined.

Charlie laughed and lightly poked her nose. “In an hour. We leave in few minutes. Why? What are you so anxious to get to?”

            Meryl winked and Charlie gaped at her. Luckily there was a knock at the door before Charlie had a heart attack.

“I know you're in there,” Cheryl said. “And I don’t want to know what's going on, but it’s time to leave and you two need to change.”

            Meryl snorted and said, “Okay, Mom. We’ll be right out.”

 

Meryl had changed into her tank top and yoga pants and Charlie into sweatpants and a random t-shirt, and they had waved goodbye to everyone and gotten to the airport in what seemed like a few minutes. The whole ride there had consisted of staring wordlessly into each other’s eyes, and holding hands, but nothing else. Once they boarded the plane, their arms still interlocked on the armrest.

            “I can’t believe we’re actually married,” Meryl said, letting it all sink in.

“Welcome to the rest of your life, Mrs. White,” Charlie replied, kissing her hand. He could at last call her that, and he planned on doing so for as long as they both shall live.


	5. We've Only Just Begun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie go on their honeymoon in Hawaii, and run into someone unexpected. There's an unexpected-but-expected kind of surprise in this one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 woah. Thank you to everyone who's reading and enjoying it. If you have a prompt idea of any kind (fluff, angst, when they were kids, etc.) tell me!

Meryl heard the distant buzz of the radio and the heat of the sunrays beating down on her as she slowly woke up. She stretched, and yawned like a baby dinosaur, before feeling the bed rumble with soft laughter. Turning her head, she saw Charlie smiling down on her and she sleepily smiled back.

            “Morning, sleepyhead,” he said playfully, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. He thought she looked like Sleeping Beauty, groggy but somehow still breathtakingly beautiful.

Starting to fully come to her senses, Meryl heard the opening notes to "Beyond the Sea" on the radio, and looked up at Charlie with a smile, and he had done the same. It was hard to believe they'd already been on their honeymoon for a week. And they didn’t want to leave. They loved Hawaii, and even though Michigan would always be their home, they were enjoying the warm weather.

“So I was thinking,” Charlie said while tracing Meryl’s face with his finger, “that we could go down to the beach, if you’re up for it. They said the water was supposed to be really warm today.”

            “Sure, that sounds like fun,” Meryl replied. “I’m just gonna freshen up first,” she said, struggling to pull herself up. She was just so _comfortable._

Charlie pushed her back up when she almost fell backwards on the bed. “I’m awake, I’m awake,” she said, unsurely.

            Charlie laughed. “Yeah, sure you are. You start freshening up and I’ll get your bathing suit, okay?”

Meryl nodded. “Thanks.”

 

Meryl walked slowly to the bathroom, her body still waking up. After brushing her hair and teeth, she was about to reach out for her bathing suit that Charlie was holding out for her when she got an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Meryl rushed towards the toilet, and Charlie ran over and pulled her hair back just in time.

            “Maybe we should stay here and watch a movie,” he suggested.

Meryl lifted her head from the bowl. “No. I’m sure it was last night’s dinner. That chicken seemed a little suspicious. I’ll be fine, really.” Charlie hesitated, but eventually gave in.

 

When they got to the beach, they were walking hand in hand, their arms swaying. They didn’t need to say anything; they were already having a conversation in their heads. It was all very peaceful until they heard a familiar voice behind them.

            “Oh, my God. Meryl? Charlie?” startled, Meryl and Charlie turned around, and saw none other than Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

“Hey!” Meryl said, holding her arms out to give Tessa a hug while Charlie gave Scott a man-hug. “What are you guys doing here?”

            Tessa and Scott beamed at each other before turning back to the pair. “We just got married!” Tessa said excitedly, holding up her left hand.

Meryl and Charlie stared with wide eyes. “Woah, congrats guys,” said Charlie.

“Yeah, thanks,” Scott said, waving it off. “So, when were you gonna tell us you guys got hitched too?” Tessa and Scott watched in amusement as Charlie’s and Meryl’s mouths hung open and their faces turned white.

 _How the hell did they know?_ Meryl thought.

 _How am I supposed to know? The media only knew about the engagement!_ Charlie thought back.

            “How—how did you know?” Charlie finally asked.

Scott gave him a weird look. “Dude, we can see your hand.” Meryl and Charlie looked down at their hands and then laughed in relief.

“I guess we’re still not used to it,” Meryl said, and she didn’t think she ever would. She was going to spend the rest of her life with Charlie. Really _with_ him, not only as her ice dance partner.

            “Scott and I are going to that sushi place for dinner, would you two like to join us?” Tessa offered.

Charlie looked eagerly at Meryl before turning to Tessa. “Absolutely!” Scott laughed and Meryl rolled her eyes. Besides Meryl and DJ, there was one thing you could never tear Charlie away from. Sushi.

“Great! See you guys at 7!” Meryl and Charlie watched as Tessa and Scott went back to the hotel, hand in hand.

            “You feeling better?” Charlie asked after they had gone.

“Yeah. I’m not sure what came over me,” Meryl said, yawning.

            “Why don’t we go back and take a nap before dinner? You look exhausted, Mer.” Meryl nodded.

 Once they reached their room, Charlie went to the window to close the curtains and when he turned around he saw Meryl already asleep on the bed. He sighed and joined her. _Why is she so tired lately?_ He thought. He was a little concerned, but decided she still must be a little stressed about the wedding.

* * *

 

When they got to the restaurant, Tessa and Scott were already there, feeding each other edamame. When Meryl and Charlie took their seats, Scott gave them an amused look.

“Well, well, well, what have you two been doing all afternoon?” he asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

            “Shut up. We took a nap,” Charlie replied, putting his arm over Meryl’s shoulder. Meryl just sat there, picking at her rice.

“Meryl, do you feel alright?” Tessa asked, concerned.

            Meryl looked up and plastered a smile. “Yeah, I’ve, um, just been a bit tired lately,” she said, taking a bite of her rice, hoping to get everyone’s eyes off of her.

When the chef came over to their table and took their order, Meryl realized that this was the type of sushi restaurant that made the food in front of you, and her eyes widened in terror. The chef began cutting the fish and served them to Tessa and Meryl first. Meryl took one whiff of the sushi and ran off. Charlie was about to go after her when Tessa stopped him. “Let me handle this,” she said, giving Charlie a knowing look, and Charlie nodded, giving her permission.

Tessa found Meryl in the ladies’ room, curled over a toilet bowl.

            “Meryl, you clearly aren’t okay. What's wrong?”

“The sushi tasted a little…undercooked,” she lied, turning her head back to the toilet bowl.

            “You didn’t even _taste_ it,” Tessa pointed out, crossing her arms.

“Well it smelled undercooked!” Meryl defended herself.

            _“Sushi doesn’t even get cooked! It’s literally raw fish!”_ Tessa nearly screeched. “That’s it. I’m taking you upstairs and we’re gonna figure this out.

Meryl walked back to the table, leaning on Tessa for support.

“I’m going to take Meryl upstairs and figure out what's wrong,” Tessa announced. “Charlie, stay here with Scott. I’ll have the hotel call you later.”

“What no I—” Charlie began.

            “Please, Charlie,” Meryl croaked. Charlie hated seeing her like this but he unwillingly nodded. He knew that everyone always said the first year of marriage was always the hardest, but he didn’t think the hardships would start this soon.

* * *

 

Once they'd gotten to Meryl and Charlie’s room, Tessa instructed Meryl to lie down, to which Meryl obliged.

            “Okay. I need you to tell me how long you’ve been sick like this and whatever other symptoms you have,” Tessa said, looking around for a thermometer.

“Um, it started a couple days ago, I guess, but it had gone away after that and came back this morning. I’ve just been vomiting at the most unusual things, and I feel a little bloated.”

            Tessa nodded as she put the thermometer in Meryl’s mouth. When she took it out and it was normal, she opted for something else. “I’m going to call the hotel’s doctor, alright?” Meryl nodded.

 

When the doctor arrived, he asked Meryl questions similar to those Tessa had asked her. When he was done, he told Meryl to rest and called Tessa outside.

“Well? What's wrong with her?”

“From the information I was able to get, I believe Ms. Davis is pregnant,” the doctor announced. Tessa’s mouth gaped open. What neither of them realized was that Meryl was on the other side of the door. Tessa went downstairs to call Charlie and Scott, and left Meryl in the worst place she could be. Her thoughts.

            _There's no way I’m pregnant_ , she thought. _It’s only been a week…oh, shit. No. I’m not. It’s a mistake. It has to be a mistake._ Trying to get her mind off of things, she decided to watch a movie. Curling up in a ball on the bed, she subconsciously chose _Rosemary’s Baby_.

She heard the door unlock, and she looked up to see Charlie practically run into the room. “Are you alright, Mer?” he asked, before turning to the TV. “Why are you watching _Rosemary’s Baby_?”

            Meryl shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she said honestly. “Come watch it with me,” she said patting the empty bed spot next to her. Charlie sighed. He couldn’t resist spending time with Meryl, even if it was watching a movie like _Rosemary’s Baby_.

 

The next day, Scott had convinced Charlie to go golfing, and Tessa had convinced Meryl to go shopping.

            “Oh, my God, Tessa look how cute these are!” Meryl exclaimed, pointing to a pair of blue baby booties.

Tessa’s face went pale. “Why don’t we go look at sundresses?” she said, and Meryl agreed.

 When Meryl got back to her hotel room, she noticed Charlie still wasn’t there. She turned on the radio and took out the dresses she had bought. Standing in front of the mirror and humming to "Rhythm of Love", which had just come on the radio, Meryl held the dresses over her body one by one examining how they looked.

            When she had done that with all the dresses, she suddenly felt her shirt was a little tight. Cautiously, she lifted up her shirt and examined her stomach. _It hasn’t grown, has it?_ She thought. She jumped back, startled when she heard Charlie come in. Charlie frowned and she realized she’d instinctively put a hand to her stomach, and that her shirt was still lifted up.

“Is everything okay, Mer? What were you doing?” he asked questioningly.

            “I was just…checking for bruises!” she claimed.

“Why would you have bruises?” he asked. Meryl hadn’t been at the rink in a week and a half, and even then she rarely got bruises.

            “Hey, you never know,” she said quickly, putting the dresses back in the bag. She started walking across the room to put them in the closet by the door when Charlie grabbed her arm and stopped her. Meryl gasped. Charlie never grabbed her like that. He wasn’t being rough, she just wasn’t used to it.

“Meryl. Tell me what's wrong. I know the doctor came yesterday. Tessa told me everything.”

            “If she told you everything then why are asking me?” she retorted.

“Because the only thing Tessa left out was what the doctor said. She said she thought _you_ should tell me. So tell me.”

            Meryl didn’t meet his eye. “Tessa didn’t tell me, either,” she said in a cowardly manner.

But Charlie was still firm. “But you still heard the doctor. I see it in your face. You can’t lie to me, Meryl.”

            Meryl sighed before looking him dead in the eye. “The doctor thinks I’m pregnant,” she said simply.

“W-what?” Charlie was taken aback.

            Meryl rolled her eyes impatiently and used both hands to point at her stomach. “Pregnant. Baby,” she said, rocking an invisible child in her arms, as if she was explaining it to a 5-year-old. “Well?” Meryl said expectantly when Charlie still hadn’t said anything. He just stood there with his mouth wide open in shock. “Ugh,” Meryl groaned, leaving the room.

 

After half an hour of looking for Meryl, Charlie stopped by Tessa and Scott’s room to ask them for help. When he knocked on the door, Scott opened it, dressed in his pajamas and said, “Dude, I don’t know what the _hell_ you did but you messed up _big_ time.” Scott walked back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and Charlie saw Tessa on the floor, comforting a crying Meryl.

            Charlie rushed over and tried to hug her, but Meryl pushed him away. “Mer, I’m _so_ sorry. It just took me by surprise!”

“And you think it didn’t take _me_ by surprise? You could’ve shown a little excitement, Charlie! We might be having a freaking _baby_ for crying out loud!” Meryl began crying again, and this time she didn’t push Charlie away when he tried to hug her.

            “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he coaxed, rubbing her back. “And first thing tomorrow morning I’m going with you to the doctor, alright?” Meryl’s body shivered in tears as she nodded into his chest.

 

* * *

The next morning, Meryl walked cautiously into the doctor’s office, and when they were called in, she silently changed into the hospital dress they had given her.

The appointment started off the same way her yearly checkups did, and then the doctor left to do some tests. Meryl and Charlie both sat in silence; Meryl staring at her swaying feet that hung off the examination table, Charlie focused on his fiddling thumbs.

            “What if I am?” she asked suddenly, lifting her head to look at Charlie.

“What?” he asked, confused.

            “What if I’m pregnant?” she clarified. “Then what do we do?”

“We…we prepare ourselves, and we take care of a little human being who depends on us. Okay? Don’t be scared.” Meryl nodded, and before anything else could be said, the doctor came back with the results.

            “Well, Ms. Davis, it looks like your assumptions were correct. Congratulations.” Seeing Meryl and Charlie’s reactions, the doctor chuckled and said, “I’ll give you two a moment.”

“We’re…we’re having a baby,” Charlie said.

            Meryl nodded, tears forming in her eyes. “Please tell me you're not going to faint,” she teased, but still a little serious.

Charlie waved his hand. “No, no. I’m good. Let’s…let’s get back to the hotel.”

 

That night, Meryl and Charlie curled up in the bed together, watching _Lord of the Rings._

            “Is our life over?” Meryl asked suddenly, taking a bite of a pickle she had dipped in ice cream, while Charlie grimaced, eating his own plain ice cream.

“What do you mean? We’re not even 30.”

            Meryl shook her head. “Exactly. We got married and found out we’re having a baby all in one week,” she explained. “From now on our lives are gonna revolve around this thing the size of a peanut that’s growing inside me. Did we just end our married life?”

Charlie laughed and kissed her forehead before pulling her close, and she made herself at home burrowed in his shoulder. “No,” he replied. “We’ve only just begun.”

 


	6. My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie reach new milestones as their bundle of joy is fast approaching, and agree on a very important detail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, because I'm trying to fill it with as much fluff as I can before I go into the second part of the story. Again, if you have any prompt ideas, let me know. Do you think it's a boy or a girl??

“I hate this,” Meryl wailed. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this _so_ much.”

            Charlie rubbed her back. Even though she was in her fifth month, Meryl still occasionally got morning sickness, and if it was really bad, she would stay home and Charlie would cover their teams’ choreography for the day.

            “It'll be over soon,” he assured her.

“That’s what you said two months ago,” she protested. “I’m really getting annoyed now. I can’t eat the foods that I like without throwing up, and I’m always craving really disgusting food combinations. Who eats asparagus with peanut butter, Charlie? Name _one_ person.” Charlie pursed his lips, unable to answer. “Exactly,” she said, resting an elbow on the toilet bowl. “I’m not going today,” she announced.

            “It’s okay,” Charlie told her. “We only have one team who needs to learn their program, anyway. And besides, you deserve the rest.”

“The hell I do,” Meryl agreed, trying to pull herself off the floor. “There's a watermelon in my stomach!”

Charlie laughed. “Alright, I have to go,” he said, kissing her forehead before turning to DJ, who had been sitting worriedly outside the bathroom door. “Deej you take care of your mommy, okay?” DJ wagged her tail. “Good girl.”

 

* * *

 

“Mer! I’m home,” Charlie called as he walked into the house. “Mer?” he asked again, not getting a response. Getting worried, he walked quickly around the house, until he found her on the couch, and he smiled at the sight.

            Meryl was asleep, her body stretched all over the couch. Her growing bump poked up, and DJ had tried to lie next to Meryl, but she had sulkily settled for resting her paws and her head on Meryl’s bump while she sat on Meryl’s leg.

Knowing that nothing would happen, but also knowing Meryl was very skeptical about keeping the baby safe, Charlie walked over and picked DJ up before kissing Meryl on her temple. Meryl’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled the brightest smile Charlie had seen from her in a while.

            Charlie looked at her in pure love and relief. “You feeling better?”

Meryl nodded, patting her belly. “This one started to calm down. I slept all day, and didn’t throw up once,” she announced proudly, before her hand suddenly flew to her bump and she looked up at Charlie with a startled expression. Charlie looked at her with concern, but before he could ask her what was wrong she grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach, and Charlie mouth hung wide open.

            “It’s…it’s kicking,” he said in disbelief, and Meryl nodded back smiling. “Is this the first time it’s happened?” he asked.

“Yep. I really don’t know why I was so worried this morning. The worst part is over, and now I have a legitimate excuse to watch _Game of Thrones_ all day,” she said cheerily.

            Charlie laughed. “Win-win situation. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a nap or something while I make dinner?” he suggested.

Meryl nodded. “Pasta?” she asked hopefully.

            “Baby gets what baby wants, right?” he said, helping her to her feet.

“No, mommy gets what mommy wants and baby’s gonna learn to love pasta because it’s been five months since I’ve been able to eat it without getting sick,” she said, waddling towards the stairs with a hand on her back.

            Charlie laughed. “I have a feeling you're not going to be very happy if the baby doesn’t like Italian food.”

“Hah. You got that right,” Meryl snorted.

Charlie smiled. “Alright, you go take a nap. I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”

 

Ten minutes later, when the pasta was ready, Charlie called loud enough for Meryl to hear in case she had fallen asleep, which was highly probable. “Meryl, dinner’s ready!” he yelled up the stairs. Getting no response, he walked quickly to their bedroom, to find Meryl sitting on the bed, her eyes fixed on the screen in front of her. She was sitting cross-legged, she had both hands cradled around her bump, and her face was frozen in a look of terror. “Mer…” Charlie began, cautiously coming closer to her, “are you alright?”

Meryl looked up angrily a Charlie and tossed her tissue box at him, which he ducked, and it knocked down a part of their DVD collection that had been on the cabinet behind him. “Look what you’ve done!” she yelled furiously.

“W-what?” Charlie stuttered, bewildered look on his face. Meryl pointed to the TV. Charlie looked over and groaned. “Meryl, _why_ are you watching _Knocked Up_?”

            “Because,” Meryl said stubbornly, crossing her arms, “that’s me in a few months. And from what I’ve seen, I’m going to enjoy that experience as much as Katherine Heigl did.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Meryl, you _know_ they exaggerate. It’s Hollywood! It won’t be like that,” he tried, hoping she would let it go.

            Instead, Meryl gave him a look. “Oh so you're saying that you’ve had a baby before and went through that and it was a super fun experience?” Charlie stayed silent. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Charlie sat next to her on the bed and took both her hands. “Listen. It’s going to be fine, you hear me? I’m going to be in that hospital room with you from the moment you go into labor until the moment you're released. I’m not going to let you go through that much pain. I’ll even let you break my hand if you want to,” he added with a smile.

            Meryl stroked his cheek. “But then who will hold the baby at night when I’m too tired to get up?” she said, batting her eyelashes innocently. Charlie chuckled.

“Okay you win. Dinner’s ready,” he announced and Meryl groaned. “What? You said you wanted pasta!”

            “Yeah, I know, but I’m just so comfy,” she complained.

Charlie chuckled. “What if we eat up here? Then we can finish the movie.” Meryl nodded enthusiastically.

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, Meryl was halfway done with her spaghetti and meatballs, while Charlie had only begun his.

            “Wow, I’m not sure who's hungrier, you or the baby,” he commented.

“Both,” Meryl said, her mouth full of meatball. “I think baby likes Italian food. I’m taking advantage of it.” Charlie wiped the excess marinara sauce off her mouth.

            “Oh God,” he said, after they had turned their attention back to the movie.

“I think I might throw up,” Meryl said, disgusted look on her face.

            “Baby not like Italian food?” he asked, and Meryl shook her head.

“No, baby seems to love it. But _look_ ,” she said, pointing to the screen. “Oh, God I’m scared,” Meryl wailed, burying her head against Charlie’s shoulder and looking away from the movie, where Katherine Heigl was currently having her baby.

            Charlie rubbed her arm. “Mer, I told you, I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“Yeah, but it’s not that. It’s just…the whole idea of having to go through that it’s just scary to even look at!” she complained.

            “Look at me,” Charlie requested, and Meryl obliged. “You are going to do _amazing._ You're gonna go in there, and you're gonna have a perfect, healthy baby, okay? And then we’re going to bring him or her home and we’re gonna be family, alright?”

Meryl nodded. “How do you always know what to say?” she mumbled into his shoulder.

            Charlie laughed. “It is a mystery. But really, Mer, you have four more months. Can you promise me you'll at least _try_ to not think about it until you actually have to?” he was pleading, and he was desperate. He hated seeing Meryl worry like that. And she could tell.

She nodded, and quickly changed the subject. “You know, we need to start coming up with names. We can’t just keep calling it ‘baby’,” she pointed out.

            Charlie reached over to the bed stand and pulled out a baby names book out of the drawer. “Where do we begin?” he asked.

Meryl pursed her lips. “Girls.”

            “I think it’s a boy,” Charlie argued.

“Well _I_ think we’ll have an easier time with those, so I want to get this out of the way first.” Charlie shook his head in amusement.

            “What about Zoe? Or Kaitlyn?” he tried, turning to a random page, and Meryl's nose scrunched up in distaste.

“Uh…Anna?” Meryl suggested uncertainly, looking at a random spot on the page.

            “Too common,” Charlie replied, and Meryl nodded in agreement. “What about Delilah?” he said, and Meryl tilted her head.

“Charlie, I know we skated to _Samson and Delilah_ but I honestly hate that name,” Meryl said, giggling. “And if it’s a boy we are _not_ naming him Samson.”

            “I won’t even argue with that one,” Charlie said, beaming at her. He was so content where he was, sitting in bed eating dinner with his pregnant wife while watching a movie he was sure they wouldn’t watch again for a very long time, and choosing a name for their child that would be here in four short months.

As if something had gone through her, Meryl’s eyes lit up as she grabbed the book from Charlie’s hands and frantically began flipping the pages.

            “Mer, what are you looking for?” he questioned.

“Shh—you'll love it, hold on,” she said dismissively, waving her hand in Charlie’s face.

After a few minutes, Meryl finally found whatever it was she was looking for. “Aha!” she said triumphantly, holding up the book to Charlie and pointing to one of the names inside.

Charlie looked between the book and Meryl, who was smiling proudly at her discovery. “It’s perfect,” he said. “Mer, you're a genius! How did you think of that?”

Meryl shrugged. “I’m incredible that’s how,” she said jokingly.

            “You really are,” Charlie replied seriously, giving her a peck on the lips before taking the book back. "Now, for boys...Nathan?"

"Hmm, what about Ben?" Charlie turned pale and Meryl immediately regretted it, her face turning red. "Charlie, I am _so_ sorry! It was...it was on the page and it just slipped out..." she tried to read his expression, but for the first time in her life, she couldn't. Charlie was still fragile on the whole Tanith situation; after he realized how they had never been right for each other he never forgave himself for wasting five years that he could have had with Meryl. And giving their child the same name as Tanith's old ice dance partner was  _not_ going to help.

            "It's alright, you don't realize what you're doing sometimes. It happens to everyone." Meryl could still tell he was upset, and she felt the tension, and as did the baby, because it kicked so hard that Charlie felt it against his arm, where Meryl's belly had been resting.

"Baby wants you to give it a name," Meryl said with a bright smile, and sighed in relief when Charlie smiled back. The tension had been gone, all thanks to a moving creature the size of a cantaloupe.

            “ _I_  have a boy’s name that I think we’ll both agree on…” he trailed off, flipping back and forth through the pages. “Here,” he said, once he had found it, showing the page to Meryl.

Meryl stuck her hand out and Charlie high-fived it. “That’s perfect. This is so much easier than I thought!” she exclaimed.

            “Mer…did we just name our baby?”

Meryl’s eyebrow furrowed. “I _think_ so! Hey, enjoy the last of the nights like these, because we won’t be able to for a _long_ time.”

            Charlie laughed. “Wow, I suppose you're right,” he responded at the sudden realization.

“I guess the best days of our life are gone now, huh? The only thing we have now is waking up at three in the morning, but not even for skating!” she half-whispered in disbelief.

            Charlie shook his head. “We have each other for eternity, and soon there's going to be a little human being that’s half of you and half of me. My best days aren’t behind me, they're ahead of me.”


	7. Blue Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl goes back to work with Charlie to finish their teams' programs before Worlds, and Meryl and Charlie go to the doctor to check on the baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short, and sort of fluffy, because I couldn't resist :)  
> Thank you to everyone reading this story, I really hope you like this chapter! If you have any prompt ideas, leave them in the comments.  
> About the program songs, if you look them up, they fit pretty well with the styles, if you carefully listen and pick the right parts of the songs.

Meryl groaned at the sound of the alarm clock, rolling over to lean on Charlie and pulling her pillow over her head. Charlie chuckled and slowly got up, choosing to let Meryl sleep an extra five minutes.

            Charlie took a shower and got dressed before going downstairs to pack his and Meryl’s lunches: the turkey sandwiches Meryl had made the day before, a bottle of Gatorade each, and a cookie for each. Well, two for Meryl. She _was_ eating for two, after all.

“Leave that cookie where it is,” Meryl said sleepily from the staircase.

            Charlie jumped. “ _Shit._ Meryl. Don’t do that!”

“Then don’t touch my Goddamn cookie,” she said bluntly, walking past him into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

            _It’s one of those days,_ Charlie thought. “Why don’t we just bring the whole box? That way you can eat one whenever you want,” he said, not wanting to get into a fight with a sleep-deprived, hormonal Meryl.

Meryl shrugged over her bowl of Corn Flakes, so Charlie took that as a yes and put the box of Chips Ahoy in their duffel bag.

“So who do we have today?” Meryl said, putting her empty bowl in the sink. She ate two times faster with the baby, and it astonished Charlie how little time it took her to finish a whole meal.

            “Uh… Kaylie and Harrison still have to practice their tango, and Hannah and Luke have the Charleston.” Meryl nodded as the mentally calculated the time in her head.

“So…it would be socially acceptable for me to have 2 cookies every half hour?”

            Charlie shook his head with a smile. “And seven hours to get our teams ready for Worlds. Let’s go. We’re gonna be late, and we already have to leave an hour early to go to the doctor,” he reminded her, and Meryl perked up, rushing out to the car, Charlie playfully rolling his eyes before picking up the duffel bag and following her outside.

 

The car ride consisted mostly of the sound of the car and the low buzz of the radio, and Charlie’s subconscious humming while Meryl sat cradling her belly.

            “I think I want to find out what the baby is,” she said suddenly.

Charlie looked at her. “Are you sure? You only have two months left, anyway,” he said, before turning back to the road. He liked the element of surprise, as did Meryl, so he was trying to get her not to do something she might regret.

            Meryl pursed her lips in consideration. “ _Maybe._ I just—I _really_ want to know but at the same time I want to be surprised, you know?”

Charlie nodded. “Me too. It’s hard to believe we’ll find out in two months, even though it seems like a long time now.”

            “I think it’s going to have your eyes,” she said nonchalantly, gingerly stroking her belly.

“What makes you say that?” Charlie asked. He secretly wanted a girl, so that he’d have a mini-Meryl, but he’d never tell her that, because she would argue how she wanted a mini-Charlie.

            Meryl shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just have a feeling we’re having a blue-eyed baby. Where are the cookies?” she asked enthusiastically, changing the subject.

Charlie laughed. “Baby hungry again already?” Meryl nodded. “Duffel bag’s in the back seat,” he said, reaching back to pull it over, and watched as Meryl ripped open the Chips Ahoy box.

 

Once they got to the rink, the girls from the teams they had that day, Hannah and Kaylie, were already stretching together on the floor while their partners, Luke and Harrison were racing on the ice. Once they saw their coaches had arrived, they all bunched up in front of them.

            “Okay!” said Charlie, clapping his hands together. “Luke, Hannah, we’re gonna run through your programs first.” He turned to the other two teenagers. “Kaylie, Harrison, you guys are going to work on your lifts with Meryl on the floor, alright?” The kids nodded. “And, as always, if something happens with Meryl when I’m not around you find me immediately, understand?” Again, the kids nodded. “Alright! Let’s go!”

* * *

Meryl took Kaylie and Harrison to the dance room and set up their music. Meryl and Charlie had worked with them with the music choice and had unanimously decided to do a Charleston program with a hint of swing. Meryl sat on her stool as Kaylie and Harrison started off with their Roaring Twenties entrance to “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman, which was as swingy as it could get. Because one of Kaylie and Harrison’s main rivals were also doing swing, Meryl decided to add “Candy Man” by Christina Aguliera into the mix—matching Kaylie’s pink flapper costume.

            “Go, right, back step, left, twizzle, twizzle, twizzle, and down. Harrison grab her right hand, that’s it, bend your knees, Kaylie jump slowly onto his shoulders, okay, arms out,” Meryl was yelling left and right as the pair whizzed around the room, flowing into the grand finale, one of Meryl’s favorites, “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie, from _The Great Gatsby_ soundtrack. She had gotten the idea for it when she had dragged Charlie to see the movie. As the last note strung, Kaylie and Harrison hit their ending pose, and Meryl clapped, getting up from the stool and walking towards the panting pair as they wiped the sweat from their forehead.

            “Okay. That was probably one of the best runs so far. Now let’s see if you can do it as well on ice. Let’s start from the top one more time,” she called, pressing play on the stereo and slowly walking backwards onto the stool.

 

Unfortunately for Charlie, he wasn’t having as much luck with the other team. Hannah and Luke got the steps down perfectly, but the tango-like looks were what they struggled most with. Charlie understood—he and Meryl had once been like that—but that was when they were young. These kids were almost seventeen. Charlie decided to focus on their moves first, so they started over. As the first song, the instrumental version of “El Tango de Roxanne” from _Moulin Rouge_ , started to play, Hannah and Luke started off strong, nailing the dips and the first footwork sequence.

By the time their second song, “Temptation” by Diana Krall, was halfway through, they had begun to falter a bit. Even though their lift was spot on, where Hannah was wrapped around Luke’s leg, with only his hand to keep her off the ice, their exit was a little awkward. Charlie hit ‘pause’, and they both looked up to him. “You have to pretend you're in _love,_ ” he said, a little annoyed. “Right now, you just look like you just met at some sort of tango club.” It was hard to find the right way to explain it, and that wasn’t it, as both teens bit their lips to muffle their laughter.

             Charlie rolled his eyes and continued. “Luke, I need you to grab her by the waist. You _want_ her but you can’t have her. Hannah—I need your eyes to focus on him and nothing else. I need your hand on his face during the transitions. Okay? Alright, start at the split lift before the third song,” Charlie said, skating back to the stereo and hitting ‘play’, and the beginning of “Objection” by Shakira filled the room.

 

Charlie tried focusing on the pair skating before him, who was now following Charlie’s instructions to a tee. It reminded him of the tangos he had done with Meryl in 2007 and 2011. It didn’t take long for Charlie to unintentionally zone out and have his wife on his mind. _I wonder how many cookies she’s had_ , he thought. _I hope she hasn’t exploded on the kids for a tiny mistake…are there going to be any cookies left for me? They don’t have food at the doctor’s…_

            “Charlie? Charlie!” Charlie snapped back to reality to see Meryl by the bleachers, holding her arms out as if to say, “What gives?” all four kids were sitting on the benches, unlacing their skates.

“Are, um, are Kaylie and Harrison okay?”

            “Yeah, they’ve gotten a _lot_ better. We just have to test them on ice tomorrow. What about Luke and Hannah?” Meryl asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“I, uh…” Charlie trailed off, looking at the floor and scratching his head.

            Meryl rolled her eyes. “It’s okay, I saw most of it. Let’s go before we’re late,” she said, breezing past him. “Oh and no, there aren’t any cookies left,” she said innocently and raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Oops!” and Charlie sighed.

* * *

 

When they got to the doctor’s office, Charlie was calmly reading a parenthood magazine, occasionally tapping Meryl on the shoulder to show her something inside, while Meryl was sitting nervously, her leg bouncing against the floor.

            Charlie put a hand on her knee to stop the movement. “Mer, calm down. You don’t have to choose if you want to know the gender now. It’s not your last ultrasound. Besides,” he said with a smile, “I think baby’s getting dizzy in there.”

Meryl rolled her eyes playfully just as the nurse called, “Meryl Davis?” Meryl looked worriedly at Charlie, who nodded encouragingly in return and took her hand to help her up and into the room that had been prepared for them.

            The doctor smiled at them. “Good afternoon!” he greeted cheerily. “Are we ready to check up on baby White?” both Meryl and Charlie nodded in unison and Charlie helped Meryl onto the examination table. The doctor turned the ultrasound machine on and waited for Meryl to roll her shirt up before putting the cold jell on her belly. “Everything seems to be going perfectly,” the doctor announced, and Charlie let out a breath of relief he didn’t know he had been holding. “Would you like to know the gender? The offer still stands for another two months.”

            Charlie looked at Meryl, who looked back at him, then at the doctor, and then to her belly. She pursed her lips. “No, thank you,” she said, and Charlie looked at her. “We like the element of surprise,” she told the doctor.

The doctor nodded in understanding. “Most parents want to know what color to buy before they have to go back to every store and exchange it all,” the doctor said with a laugh. “Well, Meryl,” he continued, handing her a towel, “why don’t you clean yourself off while I print these out for you?” Meryl nodded and Charlie thanked him as he left.

            When the door was closed, Charlie turned to Meryl and put a hand on her forehead.

“Charlie, what the hell?” she complained, pushing his hand away.

            “Are you alright? All morning you said how much you wanted to know!”

Meryl shrugged. “You were right, though. Once I knew, I couldn’t be surprised. And if you _ever_ tell _anyone_ that I said you were right about something I will make sure this is the only baby you will ever be able to have,” she said half-jokingly, half-serious, pointing to her belly. Charlie held his arms up and widened his eyes, but he was still smiling.

 

That night, while Charlie was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, when he heard a distant voice. Turning the faucet off, he realized it was Meryl.

Charlie peered through the crack of the door to see Meryl sitting on the edge of the bed, singing to the baby and gently caressing her belly.

_“Blue eyes, baby's got blue eyes, like a clear blue sky, watching over me. Blue eyes, I love blue eyes, when I'm by her side, where I long to be, I will see: Blue eyes laughing in the sun, laughing in the rain, baby's got blue eyes. And I am home, and I am home again.”_

Careful not to let her realize he was there, and that he could hear her, Charlie leaned his head against the wall, watching one of the best things he’d ever witnessed in his entire life. The sight of Meryl singing an Elton John song to their unborn child, the mere thought of their child, whose arrival was slowly approaching…for a moment, it made Charlie hope that their baby did in fact have blue eyes, if it meant he could hear Meryl sing that song once more.


	8. Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie have the baby in an unexpected situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is extremely fluffy, because hey, it's a Meryl and Charlie baby!

“Oh, my God, Meryl! You look amazing! You look like you're gonna just _pop_ any day now!” Meryl’s younger brother Clayton said teasingly as he gave his sister a hug when he had arrived at the restaurant.

            “Any day now,” Meryl repeated through gritted teeth, hugging him back a little too tightly, making him yelp.

“God, Meryl, it was a joke! You do look good though,” he added quickly.

            “I wouldn’t with the jokes around Meryl,” said Charlie, walking over to the Davis siblings. Meryl smiled, having gotten her way, and wrapped her arms around Charlie’s waist, as he put an arm around her shoulder. Clayton gave her a look. The pair walked to the large table in the back, and Clayton followed.

“Well look who decided to show up!” Paul joked, getting up to greet his children and his son-in-law. “You still in there?” he asked Meryl’s belly, getting down to its level to lightly poke it.

            Meryl slapped his arm. “Dad.” The old man smiled back.

“Aunt Meryl, when’s the baby coming?” Avery whined from her set in between Jacqui and Vince.

Meryl walked over and stroked her hair. “Very soon,” she said, before she and Charlie took their seats.

“So are you guys _sure_ about this trip?” Cheryl asked while taking a look at the menu.

            Charlie looked to Meryl before turning to his mother-in-law. “ _I’m_ not, but Meryl really wants a weekend away before the baby comes, and we put it off last week in case it happened, but since she’s already 2 weeks late, she’s insisting.”

“You better take good care of her,” Jacqui warned, pointing a finger at her son. “If something happens, I’ll kill you.” Charlie rolled his eyes and Meryl smiled innocently at him.

            From then on it had been mindless chatter, where Meryl had participated in opinionated conversations, bets over sports teams, and questions about the baby. But that changed when the food came. Everyone had agreed to go to an Italian place, since it was Meryl’s favorite. Meryl had ordered two large-sized plates, one of fried calamari and one of raviolis, while Charlie settled for his normal-sized portion of stuffed shells, staring in amazement as Meryl ate half of her food in twenty minutes.

 

 

By the time dinner was over, Avery and Vince were both asleep in their grandparents’ arms, and Meryl was getting drowsy; it was already 11. Meryl and Charlie left first, only because Charlie Sr. urged them to get on the road.

            Stopping quickly at home, Charlie rapidly changed into his shirt and sweatpants, before taking all their bags to the car, while Meryl changed into her maternity sweatpants and an old sweatshirt of Charlie’s. Charlie came back in just as Meryl walked down the stairs. Taking her hand and guiding her out to the car with DJ at his heels, Charlie got everything settled before they were off.

“What do you think skiing in Vermont is like?” Meryl asked curiously, staring out the window.

            “I don’t know, but you are _definitely_ not going skiing this time.”

Meryl glared at him, annoyed. They began talking about things they wanted to do over the weekend, and after the baby came. Eventually, Meryl had fallen asleep, as had DJ in the backseat.

           

Around 2 in the morning, Charlie was as awake as he could be, but not awake enough to try to avoid the bump in the road, to not disturb Meryl. The car jolted up, and woke DJ, who growled from the back. Charlie looked over to see if Meryl had felt the jolt. Meryl stirred in her seat and frowned in her sleep before slowly opening her eyes and desperately patting her seat.

            “What are you doing?” Charlie asked, puzzled.

“Was there a water bottle under this?” Meryl asked, ignoring his question.

            Charlie frowned. “No…” Meryl's head shot up and her eyes met his with a look of terror. The car screeched as Charlie pulled over onto the side of the road. “What's wrong?” he almost yelled.

Meryl tried to stay calm as she unbuttoned her seatbelt and pushed herself off the seat. Both of them turned to look, and saw that the seat was damp. “I think my water broke,” she whispered.

            Charlie’s eyes widened. “W-what?”

Meryl doubled over, clutching her belly. “Oh, yeah,” she said in a pained tone. “It definitely broke. Do we have time to go back to Michigan?” she asked, panting.

“Hell no!” Charlie cried. The car screeched once again as Charlie stepped on the pedal, and the car zoomed off. “We can make it to Vermont in half an hour. Do you think you'll make it?”

            Meryl nodded. “It’s pretty early. I think we’re okay.” She took a deep breath. She was really doing this. It was really happening.

* * *

 

When they arrived at the hospital, Charlie rushed in to reach the front desk, and nearly fell on the slippery floor. Meryl paddled in slowly but calmly after him.

“Wife, water, labor, baby, Davis,” Charlie stuttered, pointing in all directions. The nurse raised an eyebrow in confusion.

            Meryl sighed and pushed him aside. “My water broke about half an hour ago, and I’m going into labor,” she explained. “And my name is Meryl Davis.” The nurse nodded in understanding and called a doctor.

“How are you so calm?” Charlie asked, bewildered.

            Meryl shrugged. “I’m trying not to focus on the fact that soon I’m going to have to push a watermelon out of my body. Hey, keep calm and carry on, right?” she stated, following the doctor who had just shown up into the room.

 

Once the doctor had set up the monitors, Meryl told Charlie to call their family. Luckily for them, Cheryl and Jacqui had left for Vermont a short while after them, so they should have been at the hotel by now.

            “Hello?” a tired voice said from the other end.

“Um, Cheryl? I’m sorry did I wake you?” Charlie said nervously. The only thing scarier than his own mother killing him for taking Meryl on a trip when she was so close to having the baby was _Meryl’s_ mother killing him for it.

            “No, it’s alright. What's going on?” Charlie heard her sit up and the click of a lamp.

“Uh…we’re at the hospital. Meryl went into labor.”

            “Jacqui! Jacqui, wake up!” Cheryl screeched. “We’ll be right there. We’ll call Paul and Charlie Sr.” And she hung up.

Charlie went back to the chair next to Meryl’s bed. “Do you actually think my mom is gonna kill me?”

Meryl snorted. “No, but mine might.” Seeing Charlie’s face turn pale, she patted his arm and said, “It’s alright. We’ll just let her hold the baby. She’ll be to preoccupied being a grandma to kill you. Go check if they're here.”

            “Mer, I called them like five minutes ago–”

“The hotel is five minutes from here in case I went into labor, remember? Well, look what happened.” Charlie sighed and nodded.

 

When he went outside into the hall, Cheryl and Jacqui were looking around frantically. When they saw him, Jacqui almost pounced. “Charlie, _please_ tell me you didn’t leave Meryl in their alone while she’s in labor.”

            Charlie held his arms up. “She sent me out here! Besides, she’s not fully dilated yet,” he claimed defensively.

The moms pushed past him and into Meryl’s room. “Oh, my God, my baby!” Cheryl cried, going over to her daughter to hug her.

            Meryl laughed. “Mom, don’t cry, okay? The baby’s still in there I’m still pretty hormonal. Just ask Charlie.” All three women turned to Charlie, who awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets and focused on the floor. Meryl rolled her eyes.

“Ms. Davis?” the doctor came in. “Our charts say you're fully dilated…you're ready to have the baby.” Meryl looked to Charlie, who nodded encouragingly. Cheryl and Jacqui kissed Meryl’s forehead in good luck and rubbed Charlie’s arm on their way out.

            “We’ll be outside waiting for your fathers, if you need us,” Jacqui announced.

Meryl took a deep breath. “Actually, Char, I think I might take you up on that offer to break your hand,” she said through her pain, arching her back.

            Charlie sighed. It was going to be a _long_ night.

 

“If I break your hand, I am _so_ not sorry,” Meryl groaned, fighting another contraction.

            Charlie stayed silent. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked.

“Sorry? Sorry?! Do you know what this is like? There is a human about the same size as DJ in here. This is worse than getting kicked in the balls, Charlie, don’t even _think_ about using that excuse.” Charlie felt genuinely sorry that she was going through so much pain—all because of him. He wiped her sweaty forehead with a towel and grabbed her clammy hand.

            “I know, Mer, I know. Just think of the good that'll come out of it, all right? Stay strong. You're almost there.” And by ‘almost there’, Charlie didn’t know that it would mean four hours.

By 6:30 that morning, Meryl was sleeping peacefully, Charlie by her side. Cheryl and Jacqui came in slowly, huge smiles on their faces.

            “Mer. Mer, wake up,” Charlie whispered, gently nudging her and kissing her forehead.

Meryl stirred. “Hmm? Don’t touch me. I just had one, I don’t want another for at least another year.” Charlie’s face flushed.

            “No, not that. Our moms are here.”

Meryl slowly opened her eyes and smiled. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Jacqui.”

            In an instant, both moms were fawning over Meryl, asking her how she was and how was the baby, so Charlie was unintentionally pushed out. He went outside to see his dad, Paul, Avery and Vince.

“Uncle Charlie, Uncle Charlie, did Aunt Meryl have the baby yet? Did she? Did she?” Avery ran into Charlie’s arms, and he scooped her up and laughed.

            “Yup! Do you want see it?”

Avery nodded enthusiastically. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

            Charlie smirked. “I guess we’ll find out.” Avery groaned. She’d been waiting nine months. And she was a _very_ impatient person, even worse than Vince.

Charlie took the four of them into the room. In all honesty, the only thing Charlie knew about his baby was its name. When Meryl saw Avery and Vince, she held her arms out, and the kids climbed up onto the bed to give her a hug. “Do you want to meet your new cousin?” she asked. They both nodded like baby chickens.

            The nurse came in with a plastic crib, and handed the bundle over to Meryl after the kids had climbed down from the bed and into their grandparents’ arms. Meryl took the bundle. It was blue.

“It’s a boy!” Paul nearly yelled, and all three women shushed him, Charlie smiling with pride as he watched Meryl with their son.

            “He looks like a Jacob,” Charlie Sr. commented.

“No, he looks like a Lucas,” Cheryl argued.

            “ _I_ think he looks like a Kyle,” Jacqui added. Meryl and Charlie looked at each other with a smile before rolling their eyes in unison.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He looks like a Noah,” Paul added.

            “He _looks_ like a rat,” Vince said, clearly annoyed at the parents’ name discussion. Avery slapped him, but tried very hard not to laugh.

“Sorry guys, but we already have a name, don’t we, Mer?” Charlie said, walking over to her side.

            Meryl nodded. “Ready?” everyone else nodded back eagerly. Meryl looked up at Charlie before they spoke in unison. “Sam.” Immediately everyone replied with “Aww!” and little Sam stirred in his mother’s arms.

“Wait, please tell me his full name isn’t Samson,” Charlie Sr. said, and everyone looked to the new parents desperately for confirmation.

            Charlie laughed. “No. We wanted to give him a name that was somehow tied to one of our programs, because after all, without them he wouldn’t be here. But Samson was just not working for either of us.”

Avery propped herself up on the stool next to the bed. “Hi, Sammy. I’m Avery. I’m your big cousin. I’m gonna teach you lots of stuff, like how to annoy Vince so he'll leave you alone.”

“Hey!” Vince whined. Avery shrugged. Meryl smiled at the two, before her eyes shot down to her son when he yawned, his hat falling off.

            “Charlie!” she gasped. Charlie rushed over. “Look!” she pointed to Sam’s head.

Charlie smiled. His son had dirty blond hair. Meryl had gotten her mini-Charlie. He put an arm around Meryl and stroked Sam’s face with his finger, and the infant’s eyes fluttered open. And Charlie swore he’d never seen Meryl smile as bright as she did. Sam had blue eyes. He was their blue-eyed baby. 

 

* * *

That night, while Charlie packed Meryl’s things so they'd be ready when they were released the next day, Meryl sat in bed fawning over their sleeping child.

            “I can’t believe he’s really here,” she whispered.

Charlie came over and kissed her temple. “Me too. He’s so tiny! I can’t believe we actually have a baby,” he said, near tears, as he pulled Meryl in for a side-hug.

            Meryl leaned her head against his chest. “He’s amazing,” she said simply.

Charlie nodded in agreement. “Thank you,” he told her.

            Meryl looked up at him quizzically and frowned. “For what?”

“For going through all that pain. For giving me the best gift of all time. For being the best thing that’s ever happened to me. For not breaking my hand,” he added with a smile.

            “Well, you're welcome,” she said, smiling back. “And besides, I'll need you to get up at night sometimes, so you just _can’t_ have a broken hand!” she teased, leaning her head back onto his chest. “He’s a little miracle, isn’t he?” she said in awe and pride, stroking Sam's soft, chubby cheek with the back of her index finger.

Charlie nodded. “He is,” he whispered softly, looking at his little family in amazement, “He really is.”

 


	9. Forever Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie are at home with baby Sam and have a bit of a hard time adjusting to parenthood. Things get even more complicated when two more kids are put in Meryl and Charlie's care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit short, but the next few may be longer. If you have an idea for prompt, I'd love to hear it! I have a few that I plan on doing after this, but I'll gladly take ideas.

“Charlie, is the bottle ready?” Meryl asked from the living room, bouncing around with a crying baby Sam in her arms.

            “Uh, I’m not sure,” Charlie called back from the kitchen. “Are you supposed to mix the formula before heating it? How long do you heat it? At what temperature is he supposed to drink it?” Meryl groaned and stormed into the kitchen.

“Mix the water with the formula. Heat it for a minute. Then test it on your hand.” Charlie hurriedly did as Meryl told him. They were both sleep-deprived, but Meryl took a bigger toll than Charlie had.

            Once the microwave timer went off, Charlie held the bottle questionably. Meryl rolled her eyes and took it from him, turning it upside down and let a drop slowly drip onto Charlie’s hand. He yelped, pulling back his hand. “What the hell, Mer!”

“Would you prefer that our baby’s mouth burn instead?” she retorted. Charlie stayed silent, but shook his head. He never got tired of hearing Meryl call Sam their baby, even if she was in a pissed mood. “Exactly.” Meryl marched off to the couch and plopped down crossed-legged, and began to feed Sam.

            Reading Meryl’s mind, Charlie picked up one of the many classical music CDs that Meryl had dug up from her parents’ basement, popping it into the player. Soon the soothing sound of Mozart filled the room, in an attempt to get Sam to sleep, but it got to his parents first.

A few hours later, Sam woke up again, and Meryl and Charlie were instantly aware of how tired they really were.

“He’s already four months old! Don’t babies automatically get a sleep schedule?” Meryl complained, yawning.

            “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it aligns with _our_ sleep schedule.”

“Touché.” Just as Sam was starting to fall asleep, the phone rang loudly. Sam immediately started crying, and both Meryl and Charlie gave the phone the death glare, as if it had been its fault someone called.

            Charlie got up to answer. “Hello?” he said groggily.

“I'm sorry, were you asleep?” Jacqui asked at the other end.

            “No, but Sam was.” Charlie immediately regretted saying it the moment after he did. “It’s alright Meryl’s putting him back to sleep now anyway. So what's up?”

There was a short awkward pause before Jacqui continued. “I’m about to go pick up Aves and Vince from school, I thought I would warn you they're very energetic today?”

“Are you guys coming over or something?” Charlie asked, puzzled, while he walked to the kitchen and got two water bottles from the fridge.

            “Charlie, did you forget? You and Meryl are babysitting! Your father and I have to go somewhere.”

“Mom, I have four siblings. I’m the only one with a newborn. Can’t you get any of them to babysit?”

            “Don’t you think I tried? No, they're all busy.”

“What about the Davises? Can’t they?”

            “Charlie!” Jacqui gasped in shock. “I am _not_ going to ask Cheryl and Paul to babysit my grandchildren! They don’t need the stress Avery and Vince can cause during one of their blowouts.”

“Oh, and we do? Mom—we can barely handle Sam! We’re always tired and stressed!”

            “It’ll be _fine_ ,” Jacqui pressed. “They love Sam. Just let them play with him or prepare his bottle or something! That’s how I got your siblings to put up with _you_ when you were born!” Charlie stayed silent.

“Fine,” he said, and Jacqui sighed in relief. “ _But_ —next week you're babysitting Sam. I want to take Meryl out since we literally haven’t been able to do anything since the honeymoon, alright?”

            Jacqui smirked. “Mhm, alright. I’ve got to go pick up the kiddos. Prepare yourselves.” And she hung up.

 

Charlie sighed as he walked into the living room, just as Meryl came down the stairs. “Just put Sam down. I’m gonna turn off the ringer on the phone just in case. Who was that?” she asked, as Charlie handed her one of the water bottles.

            “My mom. We get to babysit Vince and Avery today!” he said sarcastically, plopping down on the couch in defeat.

Meryl spit out her water. _“What?”_ Charlie nodded. “Can’t you get us out of it?”

“Believe me, I tried everything. But on the bright side, I got Mom to babysit Sam next week so we can go out.”

            “Oh, that sounds fun! We haven’t been able to do anything in over a year,” she said in sudden realization, sitting down slowly next to Charlie, burrowing her head in his chest.

“Right?” he agreed, putting an arm around her. “This is supposed to happen when you have at least three kids, not one.”

            Meryl snorted. “Charlie, give me at least 2 years before we even think about another kid. We have our hands full.”

Charlie looked down. “You want more kids?”

            Meryl looked up at him, surprised. “Of course! Not now, _obviously_ , but, I mean, look at Sam. He’s adorable, and he's _ours_. Why wouldn’t I want more of that?” Charlie smiled. “What? Do _you_ not want more?” she questioned.

“Actually, I was thinking the exact same thing as you.”

            “Great minds think alike,” she said with a yawn. And with that, they fell asleep.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door. It got louder and louder when no one answered, and eventually Meryl got up groggily to open to door to her niece, nephew, and mother-in-law, all with an optimistic smile.

            The children went running in. “Shh—Sam’s asleep,” Meryl called after them, halfway in a yawn.”

“Big Charlie should be back around six,” Jacqui said. “Do you think you'll be okay?”

            “No,” Charlie said bluntly, walking past them to the stairs to get Sam, who had just woken up.

Meryl went to the kitchen to get the box of Oreos and two of the lemonade pouches for kids before going upstairs. Passing the nursery, she saw Charlie walking around, humming to Sam to calm him. Meryl leaned her head against the doorframe to watch them when she heard a scream from the playroom.

            “What are you doing to each other?” she said angrily, walking into the room to see Avery with her arms around Vince, trying to force a Barbie from his hand while Vince tried reaching the Power Ranger Avery was holding over her head.

“Avery stole my Power Ranger!” Vince whined, and Meryl turned to her niece with a raised eyebrow.

            “Vince took my Barbie first!”

Meryl was too tired to do what she usually did, which was make them talk it out. She would normally go all family therapist on them, but this time she walked over, took both toys, and separated them. “Avery, go in that corner,” she said pointing to the closet corner, and Vince smirked. Meryl whipped her head around and Vince shrunk back. “And you go into _that_ corner,” she said pointing to the corner near the window. “And don’t leave until I tell you to,” she said sharply, storming out.

            Just as she was plopping herself onto the bed, Charlie walked in from the nursery. “Sam calm now…what the hell happened, Mer? You never snap at _anyone_. Especially them.” He gestured to the door.

Meryl held her hands to her face. “I know, I know. I just…I can’t deal with their fighting today. I’m too exhausted. I’ve _been_ to exhausted for almost half a year!”

“You know, when we have another kid, this is gonna happen with Sam,” Charlie pointed out.

            Meryl immediately sat up and shook her head. “No. I won’t let it happen.”

“Mer, you can’t control what kids do. _They_ can’t even control what they do!”

            Meryl rolled her eyes. “Char, I’m not going to _control_ our kids, I’m just going to…train them…to get along.”

Before Charlie could reply, they heard a desperate voice say, “Vince, no! She said not to move!” turning around, they saw Vince in the doorway.

“Aunt Meryl I need to go to the bathroom,” he squeaked.

Meryl nodded, and turned to Charlie who walked out of the room with Vince in front of him.

“Avery?” Meryl called out. Avery inched in slowly.

“Yes?” she peeped.

“Can you tell me what's going on with you an Vince today?” Avery shrugged. Meryl sighed. “Is he being extra annoying today?” she said with a smile. Avery nodded. “Did you take his Power Ranger first?”

            “He was making weird action noises with his mouth!” Avery immediately defended herself. “It was really annoying and he wouldn’t stop!”

Meryl pursed her lips. “Okay, this is what's going to happen. You're going to apologize to Vince—” Avery looked up at her with a complaining look. “—And he's going to apologize for taking your Barbie. And then we’ll watch a movie, if we can put Sam to sleep. Alright?” Avery nodded just as Charlie and Vince inched back into the room. “Vince, Avery has something to say to you, right Aves?” she prompted.

            “I’m sorry I took your Power Ranger,” Avery mumbled.

“Vince do you have something to say to your sister?” Charlie encouraged, catching on to Meryl’s plan.

            “I’m sorry I took your Barbie,” he muttered, almost inaudibly.

“Are you two going to keep fighting all day?” Meryl asked in a tone that the children recognized would not have a good outcome. The both shook their heads furiously. “Good. Now let’s go watch a movie. I’ll make popcorn.”

 

The four of them sat on the couch, a big bowl of popcorn in front of them. The kids eagerly stayed awake during _Peter Pan_ , but Meryl and Charlie were out before Tinker Bell’s light almost was. Around six, Jacqui came in using her keys, finding all four asleep; the movie once again on the main menu page.

            “I always find you two asleep on the couch,” she said, shaking her head.

Meryl and Charlie stirred. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, we barely any sleep with a newborn,” Charlie said sleepily. Meryl and Charlie helped Jacqui by carrying the sleeping children out to her car and placing them in their car seats.

            “Today was horrible,” Meryl whined, taking a handful of popcorn.

“I agree. Can we agree on two kids?”

            Meryl nodded with wide eyes. “Hey, could you check on Sam? I want to take a shower.”

“Of course,” Charlie nodded. “But don’t take too long. I want some time with you, too,” he said playfully. Meryl rolled her eyes.

* * *

 

While the warm water hit her back, Meryl thought about her life. She was married to her best friend and soul mate, and she had the most perfect baby she could ask for. She realized she wanted more. She wanted to be like one of those annoying families who took those cheesy Christmas card pictures with all their kids. She wanted another baby. And she didn’t want to wait two years. She was willing to be sleep-deprived for the rest of her life if it meant she and Charlie could be the family she had in mind for them. Turning off the water and wrapping herself in a towel, she decided she would tell him that night.

 

She was about to walk into the nursery when she heard a soft voice coming from the room. Peering in through the door that was cracked open, she saw Charlie sitting in the rocking chair, with Sam in his arms, singing to him.

            _“May God bless and keep you always, may your wishes all come true, may you always do for others, and let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung. May you stay forever young, forever young, forever young, may you stay forever young.”_

 

Meryl leaned against the door, not wanting to interrupt by exposing her presence. She didn’t care that she was freezing, and she didn’t care that there was a tear streaming down her face. Her life was already perfect, but in that moment, she knew that she didn’t want to let this go. She wanted to watch Charlie sing Bob Dylan songs to all their children for as long as they'd let him. This was only the beginning for them. They would have this for years to come. She had never been so sure about anything in her life.

 


	10. I'll Stand By You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Meryl face a bump in the road when they aren't on the same page...or so they think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry about the week-long hiatus! Things have just been insane with school and everything else! This was supposed to be up Sunday but it was my birthday so it was a bit hard! I'll try to update more often! I promise! Very fluffy chapters to come! Remember ideas are always welcome!

“Meryl, come on! Mom’s gonna be here any minute! I’m sure you look great!” Charlie called from their bedroom, where he was trying to tie his tie in the full-length mirror.

            Meryl slowly walked into the room, the silver beads on her short, black, mini dress reflecting against her pale skin. Whatever progress Charlie had made with his tie was undone when he saw her. Meryl rolled her eyes and came over to fix his tie in a matter of seconds, while he focused on her sweetheart neckline. Meryl patted his chin with her index finger. “Up here,” she said with a teasing smile.

Charlie blushed, but before he could say anything, they heard Sam's cry. Meryl rushed to the nursery, and Charlie followed. Picking Sam up from his crib, Meryl bounced around the room, patting his back to try and calm him. Charlie leaned against the doorway and watched in awe. She was so good with him, despite having no prior experience with babies.

            Seeing Meryl with their baby was one of his favorite things. And now that he knew she also wanted another, he was going to try and convince her that they could handle two kids now, instead of waiting two years. That was partially why he wanted to take her out. He knew it was corny, but it was hard to convince someone to have another baby when the one you already have is crying or has you aching for a nap every second of every day.

“I’m here!” Jacqui yelled from the door. Charlie helped Meryl, who was wearing heels, down the stairs before she gave Sam to Jacqui.

            “The formula gets mixed with the bottled water and then microwaved for 30 seconds. His diaper cream is next to the box of baby wipes, and he has to be burped before he sleeps—”

“Meryl, honey, relax. I had five kids. I’m a pro,” Jacqui said, shaking it off. “It’s your first night out without him, take advantage of it. I’m going to pack his things before we leave.

            “W-wait, what?” Charlie asked, startled. “I thought you were babysitting!”

“I am. Your father and I agreed we could take Sam until tomorrow, so he’ll sleep at our place tonight. You two deserve a full night off!”

            Charlie put his arm around Meryl’s waist and pulled her close. “Thank you,” they said in unison, and Jacqui waved them off.

“Now, shoo!” she said, pushing them out the door. Meryl could barely get in a “Bye, Sammy, I love you!” before Jacqui had slammed the door on them.

            On the way to the restaurant, which was Italian, Charlie and Meryl both were thinking of a way to tell the other that they wanted another baby soon. Usually, they would be on the same page and no words were needed, but this time they didn’t know they weren’t alone in the thought.

 

Throughout dinner, they were both focused on their food, occasionally sharing small talk about Sam, or something they had seen on the news; nothing they normally spoke about.

            Halfway through their meal, Charlie couldn’t take it anymore. “Mer, I feel like we’re on a first date. We’re barely talking. What's wrong? Do you miss Sam?”

Meryl stopped poking her fried calamari and looked Charlie straight in the eye. “Of _course_ I miss him, but that’s not…I don’t know. Never mind.” She turned back to her food, but Charlie put a hand under her chin and pulled her face up back to his.

            “Mer, don’t lie to me. Tell me what's going on.”

Meryl closed her eyes and sighed. “I want another baby.”

            Charlie brow furrowed. “I know…I do, too. I thought we established this last week.”

Meryl shook her head. “No. Well, yes, but we said in two years. And…I changed my mind.”

            Charlie’s heart sank. “Are you saying you want to wait three, or... _five_?” Charlie loved Meryl and Sam, but he wanted more, and he felt selfish for putting Meryl through that.

“What? No. No! It’s just…last week, when I got out of the shower, I wanted to tell you that I didn’t want to wait. But then I heard you singing _Forever Young_ to Sam…and I…I knew more than ever that I wanted to hear that for as long as I possibly could. Charlie, I want another baby. I want it and Sam to be close in age.”

            Charlie blushed to the color of the crimson tablecloth. “You…you heard that?”

Meryl rolled her eyes. “Oh, relax. I know you heard me singing _Blue Eyes_ to him before he was born. But Char? Back to the point?”

            “Oh, uh, right, um, baby, yeah,” Charlie fumbled with his napkin, blushing even deeper. _How did she know I was there?_

Meryl raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Well?”

            Charlie took a deep breath. “I was actually going to ask you the same thing. That’s why I brought you to an Italian place. You love Italian.”

Meryl pretended to gasp. “Charlie White, were you trying to bribe me into having another baby with _Italian food_?”

            Charlie chuckled. “Oh, please. I didn’t even need the food.” Meryl glared playfully.

There was an awkward few minutes where you could only hear the buzz around them and the occasional clanking of forks against plates. They both smiled, internally kicking themselves for thinking that they weren’t on the same page. They always were. They were Davis and White.

* * *

 

By the next month, both Meryl and Charlie were working extra hours at the rink, despite Meryl’s newly discovered pregnancy. They were preparing their teams for Nationals, even if it was only April and the teams had gotten back from Worlds two weeks before. Meryl was feeling good; she didn’t get as sick as she had with Sam, so Charlie allowed her to go on the ice and do twizzles, but no lifts.

            One day in early April Charlie was working with a group lesson for the six-year-olds, while Meryl was at the doctor. Charlie had wanted to go, but Meryl had insisted he do the group lesson.

“Charlie!” Meryl came running in, waving her arms about in a hurry to reach him.

            Charlie looked over. “Okay guys, go take a break,” he said to the small skaters in front of him. “What's up?” he asked, once Meryl had reached the boards.

Meryl was smiling brightly as she took his hand. “Come with me.” Charlie obliged, and Meryl led him to the locker room. Making sure no one was in hearing range, she took a deep breath. “Guess what the doctor said.”

            Charlie groaned. “You know I suck at guessing,” he complained. “Just tell me.”

“No, come on, come on, guess. Just once,” she said, flapping her arms and occasionally hitting his arms.

            Charlie sighed. “It’s a girl?” Meryl slapped him in the back of his head. “What's with the hitting today? Is the news that the baby is a professional boxer or something?” he whined, rubbing his head.

“You are such a baby,” Meryl said, rolling her eyes. “Guess!” she said again.

            “It’s another boy?”

Meryl sighed. “No! The doctor found two heartbeats, Charlie!”

            “Well yeah I should hope yours is beating if you're having a baby.” His eyes widened. “Wait…Mer…”

Meryl was nodding excitedly. “I know! Isn’t it exciting?”

            Charlie then burst into laughter. Meryl frowned. “Good one, Mer. You had me for a second there.” He rubbed her shoulder. “I’m gonna get a bagel from the break room, see you on the ice in 10,” he said, walking away.

Meryl’s phone beeped. She took it out, reading a text from one of their skater’s mother saying the little girl broke her arm and would miss practice. Then Meryl noticed the date. April first. _April Fool’s Day._

 

Meryl walked slowly into the break room, where Charlie was chatting with Jenny, another one of the coaches. Both of them looked up when they saw Meryl slowly sit down.

            “Meryl, would you like a bagel? I hear you're eating for two,” Jenny offered cheerily.

“Or three,” Meryl muttered. Charlie focused on the cream cheese on his bagel. _She already fooled me once,_ he thought, _why won’t she let it go?_

            Meryl looked at Jenny with pained eyes and her mouth gaped open when she met them. “Charlie, do you mind warming up my 3:30?” Jenny asked, still keeping her eyes on Meryl.

Charlie looked up and raised his eyebrows, cream cheese on the corner of his mouth. Meryl looked down and blushed. She tried to refrain herself from getting up and wiping it off. _He’s supposed to get it’s not a joke. Don’t humor him,_ she told herself. “Sure, no problem,” he finally said.

            Jenny watched Charlie leave and made sure he was out of hearing range when she whipped her head to Meryl. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Meryl dug into her back pocket and pulled out the sonogram. Sure enough, there were two spots, one labeled Baby A, the other Baby B. “Oh, my God,” Jenny gasped. “And he thinks it’s an April Fool’s joke?”

Meryl nodded. “And when we prank each other, we don’t admit it’s a prank till the day after, so he’ll never believe me.”

            Jenny pursed her lips. “You go teach your class. I’ll take care of it.” Meryl nodded and obliged.

 Since they didn’t have teams that day, Meryl and Charlie were coaching separately that day. Before Charlie’s last class of the day, Jenny approached him, and Meryl watched them from corner of her eye on the other side of the rink. She felt Charlie’s eyes on her, and her heart beat fast when she saw him run. She expected him to run to her and tell her how excited he was, but he ran right past the rink and out the door. Panicked, Meryl looked at Jenny, who simply held her arms up in defeat.

 _What the hell is wrong with him?_   They both thought.

* * *

When Meryl got home, she went straight upstairs and plopped facedown on the bed. Charlie’s car was in the driveway, but she didn’t know where he was, not that she cared, and Sam was with Paul and Cheryl, so she didn’t have to worry.

            For a while she only heard the sounds of her tears that slowly fell and stained the bed, until she heard the distant noise of song lyrics.

  _Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes, come on and come to me now.  Don't be ashamed to cry, let me see you through, cause I've seen the dark side too. When the night falls on you, you don't know what to do, nothing you confess, could make me love you less…._

 

Meryl frowned. _Where was that music coming from?_   She pulled back the shades and looked out the window. The music got louder.

_So, if you're mad, get mad. Don't hold it all inside, come on and talk to me now. Hey, what you got to hide? I get angry too, well I'm a lot like you. When you're standing at the crossroads, and don't know which path to choose, let me come along, cause even if you're wrong, I'll stand by you, I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you, I'll stand by you._

 

Meryl opened the window and squinted to see a tall, slim figure standing in front of the pool, back facing the wall, dimly illuminated by the moonlight.

_Take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you, I'll stand by you. And when, when the night falls on you, baby , you're feeling all alone, you won't be on your own…_

 

“Charlie?” Meryl called. Charlie turned around. He smiled at her, but his sad eyes melted into hers and broke her heart. Meryl slowly opened the patio door that was connected to the bedroom window and cautiously walked down to him. “Char…you okay?” she asked, noticing a tear in Charlie’s eye, thinking she might cry herself.

Charlie said nothing as he pressed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her squarely but soundly on the mouth. Meryl closed her eyes and melted. He knew. And he was okay. “I’m so sorry,” he pleaded, his chin resting on her shoulder as he squeezed her tightly. “I am so, _so_ , sorry.”

            Meryl rubbed his back slowly. It was her way of telling him she understood, and that she wasn’t mad. How could she be? She and Charlie were going to have two more reasons to add to why they loved their lives. Charlie was happy about the babies, and that was all Meryl could have ever hoped for.

Charlie pulled back and gazed into her eyes, where the moonlight was reflecting on. He smiled before enveloping her into another hug, whispering the last lines of the song into her ear:

_“I'll stand by you, I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you, I'll stand by you.”_


	11. It's Always Been You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While we desperately await summer, Meryl and Charlie have some family fun at the annual summer carnival and run into someone unexpected, creating a *very* awkward situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter slightly leans away from Meryl and Charlie...but it all gets explained later on. Speaking of which, I have a few ideas for prompts, but I think those could be developed into an actual story. If I *did* start a story, but still kept updating this one, would you guys read it?? As always prompt ideas are more than welcome!

“Mer, you're going to get a stomachache. And then another because of the ice cream,” Charlie said, shaking his head, as Meryl began devouring her third funnel cake, this time dipping it into her ice cream cone. They had decided to take Sam to the annual carnival since they had never done so, and his first birthday was fast approaching.

            Meryl rolled her eyes. “Relax, Char. Babies want it,” she said sheepishly.

“I know there's two of them this time but I’m pretty sure three is enough, especially with the popcorn you had. And the hot dog. And the cotton candy….” He trailed off, and Meryl put her hand up to his face.

            “Okay, okay, I get it, I get it! Geez! But I’m finishing this one and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Meryl replied teasingly, ripping off another part of the funnel cake in Charlie’s hand and dipping it into the vanilla ice cream.

Charlie sighed. There were downsides to Meryl having another baby, let alone two. They both stayed silent, Meryl eating, Charlie breathing in the summer air, when they heard a soft but demanding voice below them.

“Mama!” Sam pouted, and Meryl smiled. He had begun talking recently, and he knew how to call both Meryl and Charlie, which made them both melt.

Meryl knelt down in front of the stroller. “What is it, Sammy?”

Sam just grinned widely, while he flapped his arms about, chanting “Mama, Mama, Mama!” over and over. Meryl and Charlie were smiling at their baby until Sam accidentally knocked down Meryl’s ice cream with his arms. Despite being six months pregnant with twins, Meryl instantaneously jumped, the cold, sticky liquid trailing through her shirt and down her legs.

            “Shit!” Meryl mouthed, the cold trickling slowly down her body. _“Shit!”_ As she got up, she accidentally bumped into someone. “Sorry,” they said in unison. Meryl turned around and gasped. Charlie went pale. It was _Tanith._

 

* * *

“Oh,” Tanith said awkwardly, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking at the ground. “Hello.”

            Meryl looked back to Charlie before turning to Tanith. “Hey, Tanith!” she smiled. “How've you been?” Meryl could practically feel Charlie tense up and lock his jaw.

Tanith noticed too, and her brow furrowed. “Uh, I’ve been good! Settled down, moved, had a kid…so! What about you guys?”

            “We’ve been good, too. Oh, hi, Ben!” Meryl greeted, a puzzled look on her face as Tanith’s old ice dance partner Ben Agosto showed up behind Tanith. Charlie looked up, stunned.

“Hey, Meryl,” Ben greeted with a big smile, “Looking good!” Meryl smiled gratefully. “Charlie!” Ben walked past the women to give Charlie a man-hug, something all men seemed to be able to do without trying.

            “Hey,” Charlie replied, speaking for the first time since they’d run into Tanith. “Who's this little lady?” he asked, turning to the little girl in Ben’s arms.

“This is Alexa, my daughter. Well, _our_ daughter,” he clarified, looking at Tanith, who smiled sheepishly to her shoes.

            Meryl’s and Charlie’s eyes widened. “Um, Ben! Why don’t we take Alexa and Sam to the stage? I think that kids’ band is on next…I think they were called The Twizzles?” Meryl said desperately, picking up napkins from the nearby table to clean off the ice cream from her legs and grabbing Sam’s hand, as Ben followed.

Charlie gestured to the table, and Tanith awkwardly sat down. “So. You and Ben?” he began, staring at the umbrella in the center of the round table.

            Tanith nodded slowly. “You and Meryl,” she replied.

“Don’t do that.”

            “Do what?” she asked defensively.

“Act like it’s a shocker. The whole reason we broke up is because we knew I’d end up Meryl.”

            “Oh and you didn’t think Ben and I were a possibility?” she said offended, crossing her arms.

“Actually, I did. I just didn’t know if you two would see it.”

            Tanith gave Charlie a look of genuine thanks. “So, baby number two, huh?”

“Two and three, actually,” Charlie said, taking a deep breath.

            Tanith looked up in surprise. “Oh, wow! Congratulations! Ben and I want to wait till Alex turns two, but if anyone can handle three kids, it’s you two.”

Charlie laughed. “Thanks, Tanith. I heard Tessa and Scott had a baby, too. I guess the whole ice dancing world is catching up,” he joked.

            Tanith smiled before turning serious. “Are you happy?” she asked, looking straight into his eyes.

Charlie was taken aback. “Of course! What, aren’t you happy with your life?”

            “No, I am. I love Ben, and I love Alexa, but…do you ever wonder what could have been, if…if we’d never broken up? If we’d never called off the engagement?”

Charlie looked over to the concert floor, where Ben and Meryl had each grabbed a hand of the two toddlers and were dancing around in a circle. He smiled as he watched Meryl before turning back to Tanith. “Sure, I’ve wondered, but that was before Meryl. Before I realized she was the one.” Charlie tried to avoid Tanith’s gaze. “If we had been right for each other, you wouldn’t be with Ben, and I wouldn’t be with Meryl. We wouldn’t have our kids.”

            Tanith nodded. “I know. Sometimes I just felt like you were the one that got away, but then I realized that Ben would have been just that if you and I had stayed together. I just wanted to make sure you realized that, too, about Meryl.”

“I thought you hated her after the breakup!”

            Tanith laughed. “Like someone could hate Meryl! No! I just thought she would hate _me_! I kept you two apart for so long, it just seemed like the best thing to was leave. I’m glad I did. I would’ve never been where I am now.”

Charlie smiled sheepishly. “I guess you're right.” Before the conversation could continue, the dancers came back to the table. Sam and Alexa ran hand in hand to their respective parents, while Ben came behind them, helping a panting Meryl sit down next to Charlie before he took his next to Tanith.

            “What, did those ten weeks on _Dancing With the Stars_ not teach you anything, Davis?” Ben teased across the table.

Meryl glared at him. Tanith and Charlie both made an “O” with their mouths. Never mess with a pregnant woman. Never mess with Meryl Davis. _Never_ mess with a pregnant Meryl Davis. “Oh, would _you_ like to move around with two human beings sitting on your bladder all day?” Ben stayed silent. “Exactly.”

Charlie’s face was reddening as he hid his face in Meryl’s shoulder to try not to laugh.

* * *

 

The four proud parents watched their children play in the sandbox. No one spoke a word; they were all watching how well the ten-month-olds got along. “Alexa’s never played so well with anyone,” Tanith observed, and Ben nodded in agreement.

            “Neither has Sam,” Charlie said at the sudden realization.

“I wonder why that is,” Ben said curiously. Everyone looked to Meryl, who was engrossed in the children’s interactions as well as the caramel apple she was snacking on. Charlie nudged her. She looked up with wide eyes, embarrassed.

            She gulped, swallowing the bite she had taken from the apple. “Maybe if they get into skating when they're older they’ll be ice dance partners,” she offered. The three others looked at each other with budding smiles before turning to Meryl and laughing. Meryl gave them a look and pointed. They all turned to Alexa and Sam, who were on their feet, holding each other’s hand, and walking around in circles. Tanith’s, Ben’s, and Charlie’s jaws all dropped and Meryl gave them an “I told you so” look.

 

After saying goodbye to Tanith and Ben and planning a play date for the next week, Meryl and Charlie walked hand in hand, swinging their intertwined fingers. Charlie pushed a sleeping Sam in his stroller, and Meryl happily licked her lollipop. On the way to the parking lot, Meryl broke the peaceful silence, asking, “So. What did you and Tanith talk about?”

            Charlie’s eyes widened. “Erm…” Meryl raised her eyebrow and eyed him curiously.

“Charlie…what did she say? What did _you_ say?”

            Charlie looked to her with a little fear in his eyes. “We talked about what could have been. If, you know, she hadn’t married Ben, and—”

“And you hadn’t married me,” she finished, looking forward again, her face turning cold.

            Charlie was at a loss for words. “She wanted to know if we were happy. She wasn’t trying to get me to leave you, Mer, I swear, she’s perfectly happy with Ben—”

“Then why did she bring it up?” Meryl hissed, stopping in her tracks and facing her husband squarely.

            Charlie’s mouth hung open. Lowering his head, he explained, “The last, the last time she saw me, we just broke up. And I wasn’t sad, but I wasn’t happy. I was confused. I had spent so many years trying to convince myself I didn’t love you, and now there wasn’t an excuse to pretend. She wanted me to go after you. She was only trying to check up on me,” Charlie said truthfully, hoping Meryl didn’t explode on him for defending Tanith.

Meryl started walking slowly again. Charlie sighed in relief. “Did you ever see yourself where you are now, but with her?” she whispered, still not facing him.

            “When I didn’t think you and I were a possibility, yes, I considered it. But, Mer, you were the only one.” He stopped them and put a hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him.

“You never saw yourself with her? You never loved her?”

            “No, not the way I love you.”

“It was always supposed to happen like this, wasn’t it?” she asked.

            He smiled at her. “Yup. It’s always been you.”

 

 


	12. Another Day In Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl and Charlie celebrate Sam's first birthday, and encounter another surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about not updating that much! It was the last week before spring break...and spring break means more updates!! Yay!! I also started another story, Center Stage. It's about Meryl and Charlie on DWTS. The first chapter is up now. I'll update this one more frequently this week and I'll make it fluff. Or angst. Hehe :-)

“Just one more week. Hang in there,” Charlie said as he tried not to laugh, watching Meryl try to eat her bowl of Cheerios over her growing belly.

            “Most people don’t carry twins full term, why do _I_ have to be one of the few that do?” she groaned, taking a napkin to gingerly dab at the excess milk that had fallen from her spoon and landed on her shirt.

“Because it means you're a good mom. The longer they're in there the healthier they are.”

            Meryl sighed. “But it’s a lot of work! Help me up, will you? I think I’m just going to go to bed. Big day tomorrow.”

Charlie stood up from the couch and grabbed her hand, pulling her up in a way that if you omitted the large baby bump, it almost resembled a part of one of their old programs.

 

Charlie helped Meryl up the stairs, into bed, and even helped with arranging her stupid body pillow, which she had insisted on getting after watching _The Back-Up Plan._ “She sleeps so well with the pillow when she’s having twins. _I_ could use a good night’s rest, too, especially when there’s two mini-skaters doing twizzles inside you.” What the movie had left out was that the pillow, along with the baby bump, took up most of the space, and most nights Charlie just slept on the couch in their bedroom, or sometimes on the beanbag in Sam’s room.

 

            Going back to the living room, Charlie stretched on the couch, watching _The Colbert Report._ He thought about the time he and Meryl had been on it, fresh off their Sochi win. He also thought about what Meryl had said: “Big day tomorrow.”

 

And it would be a big day indeed. It was Sam’s first birthday, and Cheryl and Jacqui had insisted on inviting a bunch of people, mainly the neighborhood moms Meryl was friends with who had babies Sam’s age. But none of them were carrying twins, Meryl had argued. Charlie and the moms had convinced her that all she had to do was sit down and chit-chat, and then she would get an extra large slice of cake, so Meryl agreed. Eventually all these thoughts got to Charlie’s head, and he slowly drifted off.

The next morning, Charlie was awakened by multiple things. A tongue on his chin, ruffled blond curls against his cheek, a bony knee pressed against his side, and a swift kick to the arm. His eyes cracked open slowly, and he saw DJ on top of him, wagging her tail excitedly and licking his face. Next to the loyal dog was Sam, who was looking more like his father every day. He turned to his side to see Meryl standing above him, one knee rested on the couch, her bump against his arm. _Damn, maybe they_ are _doing twizzles in there,_ he thought.

            “Daddy!” Sam called, and Charlie turned his attention back to his mini-me.

“What's up, bud?”

            “It’s…it’s my birfday today,” he exclaimed excitedly with a near-toothless grin.

Charlie laughed. “It is! Happy birthday, buddy!”

            “What a day that was,” Meryl mumbled, then looked down at her bump, and rolled her head back in annoyance. Charlie and Sam looked at each other before laughing. Charlie sat up and pulled Meryl onto the couch, Sam and DJ scrambling to sit in between them. Meryl winced in pain.

“You okay, Mer?” Charlie asked, his brow furrowing.

            “Yeah,” Meryl plastered a smile. “Probably just kicking again.” Charlie was concerned, but decided to let it slide.

* * *

A few hours later, Meryl sat one on of the chairs on the patio, frozen in place, her cake plate in her hands. Her face was scrunched up in discomfort. Cheryl noticed and called Charlie into the kitchen.

            “Go to her,” Cheryl insisted.

“Did something happen?”

            “It’s the babies,” Cheryl hinted.

“Yeah, they were kicking pretty hard this morning,” he informed her.

            “It’s more than that,” Jacqui said, coming up from the basement and hitting her son in the head with the packet of paper plates she had just gotten.

Charlie looked between the moms before going outside. “Hey, Mer.”

“I’m fine!” she exclaimed, coming to her senses.

Charlie held his arms up in defense. “Woah, woah. I know. I’m just checking on you…Mer, something’s wrong. Don’t lie.”

Meryl looked down. “Don’t freak out, but I think I’m in labor.”

            Charlie eyes widened. “You're not due for another week!”

Meryl held up a finger. “Correction: I’m due in three weeks. I’m getting inducted next week and I plan to keep that appointment.”

            “Mer, now is not the time to be stubborn. Come on, let’s get you to the—” Meryl slapped his arms as they tried to help her up.

“ _No._ I will _not_ make Sam share his birthday with _both_ of his siblings.”

            “Meryl, come on!”

“No! I’m fine. The contractions aren’t that bad. I’ll survive until midnight. _Then_ you can take me to the hospital.”

            Charlie rolled his eyes. “Suit yourself.” He walked back into the kitchen, frustrated look clearly displayed on his face. Cheryl and Jacqui scrambled away from the door. “I know you were watching,” he sighed.

“Take her to the hospital!” Jacqui insisted.

            “She won’t go!” Charlie defended himself.

Cheryl put her hand on Jacqui’s, which was gripping Charlie’s arm. “Give her another hour. She’ll be begging you to take her. I know my daughter.”

 

Charlie had practically kept his eyes on his watch for the next hour, and remained seated in a chair in the dining room. He saw Meryl slowly struggle to get up, but when she did, she waddled inside and past Charlie, who scrambled to his feet.

Meryl held a hand up. “Relax. I just have to pee. It happens, when you have two children sitting on your bladder.” Charlie let out an exasperated breath and sat back down. A few seconds later, Meryl reappeared, a hand clutching her bump.

“I think that’s a world record. Fastest bathroom run while pregnant. Impressive, Mer.”

            Meryl slapped the back of his head with her palm. “No, dumbo, I didn’t have to pee. My water broke.” Charlie eyes widened, and he was up out of his chair and yelling frantically for Cheryl and Jacqui. With all the family commotion, Sam appeared in the doorway.

“Mommy, Daddy, why you going? It’s my birfday!”

            Meryl’s heart broke. It was _his_ birthday. By this time next year he’d be saying, “It’s _our_ birthday”, but Meryl was not going to allow that. “We’ll be back soon, baby, I promise. Daddy has to take Mommy to the doctor.”

“What happen?”

            “Mommy’s going to have your little brothers or sisters,” Charlie replied as he passed by, carrying Meryl’s suitcase out to the car.

“On my birfday?!”

            Meryl was about to cry. She held her arms out, and Cheryl picked Sam up and handed him to her daughter, who held him close. “No, baby. I promise I’ll try to not let them out until your birthday is over, okay, Monkey? This is your day.” Sam nodded, a tear in his eye. “Don’t cry. We’ll be back,” she promised.

“Mer, we have to go,” Charlie called from the car. Meryl looked between her husband to her son and back again before turning to the moms, who nodded reassuringly at her.

* * *

“Why didn’t we come here sooner?! I could’ve had them by now!” Meryl complained, now 10:30 at night on that humid August day that happened to be her baby’s birthday. Charlie opened his mouth to reply when Meryl held a finger up to his lips. “Don’t even.”

            Three hours later, at 1:30 in the morning, the first of the two, Audrey, arrived. It was officially August 28th. It was no longer Sam’s birthday. Meryl smiled in happiness and relief. Ten minutes after, Meryl had the second one of the twins, and the smaller one, Eliza. She didn’t care about their size. They were perfect to her, and they didn’t share a birthday with anyone aside from the one they had been connected to from the very first moment.

 

After Sam had come by to visit, in the wee hours of visitation time, Meryl sat sleepily on the bed, the two pink bundles in her arms. Charlie sat in the chair across from her and simply stared and smiled.

            “What?” Meryl asked, still smiling.

Charlie smiled. “I’m just admiring my fair ladies.”

            Meryl snorted. “That was so cheesy! How long have you been working on that?”

“Since we found out they were girls,” he admitting with a laugh, and Meryl’s head fell back onto the pillow as she tried to muffle her laughter as to not wake the little ladies.

            “Sorry for being stubborn,” Meryl said suddenly. “We might have made it back for Sam if I’d listened.”

Charlie shook his head. “No, you were right, because if you _had_ listened to me, then we’d be planning a triple birthday party every year, and you would get all mopey about it. I can tell. I know you, Davis. Better than you know yourself.”

            Meryl rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Still. I’m sorry for putting you through hell today.”

Charlie shrugged. “Just another day in paradise.”

 

 

 

 

 


	13. Between You And Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam gets jealous of his little sisters and Meryl is the only one who can fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update...this was supposed to be up yesterday, but hey, better late than never! I also started a new story called Trick Of Fate. The first chapter is up now, and the story itself will be very heart-wrenching.

“This is ridiculous. They're already six months old! What's the point in a baby shower? We already had one…sort of.” Meryl complained, throwing herself onto the pile of folded laundry on the bed. “I just…want…sleep.”

            Charlie laughed. “Come on, Mer—it’ll be fun! We’ll put the girls to sleep and then Sam can help open presents.”

Meryl scrunched up her face. “ _Fine_ ,” she groaned.

            “Good. Because it starts at four,” he slipped in.

 _“Charlie!”_ she hissed.

“It'll be fun, I promise,” Charlie reassured her, walking up behind her and rubbing her back.

“Mommy! Daddy! Look what I found!” Meryl and Charlie looked at each other with wide eyes as they heard padding feet on the ground before Sam came bursting into their room, holding a Buzz Lightyear toy with a bunch of noisy buttons.

            “Shh! Bud, your sisters are sleeping,” Charlie whispered, putting a finger to his lips to symbolize that they needed to be quiet.

“But they're _always_ sleeping,” he whined. “You never play anymore.”

            “Sammy, they're _babies._ You used to sleep all the time, too. Hey, how about we call Uncle Ben and see if he and Daddy can take you and Alexa to the zoo?" Meryl asked enthusiastically.

Sam shrugged. “Okay.” He slumped back upstairs, dropping the toy on one of the steps.

            “Why is he being like that lately?” Meryl asked.

“Like what?”

            “I don’t know…jealous, I guess. He used to play with the girls and help out all the time when we brought them home. Now he wants nothing to do with them,” she said sadly.

“Come on, Mer, don’t you think you're overthinking this?” Charlie asked nonchalantly.

            “Last week, when he was with Mom and Dad, he drew a picture labeled ‘My Family’. He drew you on one side, me on the other, and himself in the middle. I knew this would happen.” She brushed away a tear with her finger.

Charlie pulled her off the armrest of the couch and onto his lap while he rubbed her back. “Shh, Mer, it’s just a phase. Of course he loves the girls. They're his sisters. He’ll get over it. I’m gonna go call Ben.” He got up and walked over to the phone, leaving Meryl in her thoughts.

* * *

 

Once Charlie and Sam had left for the zoo, Gracie, Ashley, and Maia arrived about ten minutes after.

            “You guys are early,” Meryl whispered.

“Why are we whispering?” Ashley asked.

            “Babies asleep,” Meryl explained. The three girls nodded in understanding.

Eventually Marissa and Madison had arrived, and as cliché as it sounded to Meryl, they all sat at the table on the patio for tea when the doorbell rang. Meryl started to get up, but Madison stopped her. “I’ll get it.”

            “Thanks, Maddie,” she replied with a grateful smile.

Madison walked up to the door and opened it with a smile, until she saw Tanith, and her smile dropped. “Tanith,” she said simply, awkwardness in her tone.

            “Madison! Hi! Is Meryl here?”

 _Obviously, it’s_ her _house,_ Madison thought. Instead, she re-plastered on her smile. “Yeah. On the patio. Does she, uh, know you're coming?”

            “We’re friends now, if that’s what you mean, yes she knows I’m here.” Madison’s face blushed from embarrassment.

 

An hour later, the moms had arrived, and so had Alex, Jeremy, Jason, Evan, and Simon, who complained about being bored by the women’s ‘girl talk’, so Meryl sent them to the basement to play Xbox. When Charlie and Ben arrived, Alexa was peacefully asleep in her father’s arms, while Sam was energetic and happy once more.

            “Mommy, Mommy! Look what Daddy got me from the zoo!” Hearing Sam’s voice, Meryl immediately handed Audrey to Cheryl, who had been fawning over Eliza, who had begun to laugh at all the faces Jacqui made at her.

“What did you get?” Meryl asked. Sam showed her a large stuffed alligator. “Oh, wow, Sam! That’s awesome!”

            “What's the party for? Is it because you were in the hospital on my birfday?”

Meryl’s mouth gaped open. “Um, sweetie, this is for the babies.” Sam frowned. “And for Mommy,” she added quickly. “Everyone came over to give the babies a present.”

            “But it’s not their birfday! Mine’s furwst.”

“Honey, it’s not a birthday party. It’s a baby shower.”

            “But the bafroom’s upstairs!” Sam argued. Everyone thought his arguments were adorable, but no one dared to laugh at a time like this. In fact, everyone had suddenly become very interested in the cake they were eating.

“No, Sam, not that kind of shower. Do you want to help me open presents?”

            “Why don’t you ask the babies!” he spat. “Since that’s all you care about!” he stormed up the stairs as fast as his tiny legs could carry him.

“Sam!” Meryl called after him. She ran off to her own room in tears.

            _Like mother, like son,_ Charlie thought. He slowly approached his and Meryl's room and cautiously opened the door.

“I told you so,” Meryl said as soon as she heard the door creak open.

            Charlie sighed. “Okay, so maybe you were right. But Mer, he’s not even two!”

Meryl sat up and faced him through her tears. “You don’t get it, do you?”

            “What? Of course I do. Sibling rivalry. I have four, remember?”

Meryl shook her head. “Yeah, but you're the youngest. You never had to go through this.”

“Did…did you have to…when Clay was born?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t crossing a line.

Meryl nodded tearfully. “I promised myself when the girls were born that I wouldn’t let Sam go through that. I let him down.”

            Charlie came over to her and held her crying body in his arms. “No, you didn’t, Mer. He still loves you. You're his mother. You just have to talk to him.”

“But he hates me,” she interjected tearfully.

            “No, Mer, he's just upset. It happens to everyone. Come on. Go to him.”

* * *

 

Meryl slowly approached Sam’s room. She knocked on the door before coming in. “Sammy…?” Charlie pressed himself against the wall, not wanting either of them to know he was there.

            “Go away,” Sam ordered grumpily.

“Sammy, tell me what's going on. Why are you so upset?” she carefully sat at the end of his bed.

            “You and Daddy don’t play with me anymore. Everything’s always about the babies. I want to be a baby. I want attention. I want people to call _me_ cute. You don’t love me anymore.”

“Sammy, please don’t say that. You _know_ that’s not true. Daddy and I love you very much. We’ve been very busy with the babies, yes, but we could never forget about you. You're still a baby, Sammy. You’ll always be my baby, okay? Even when you're an old man, you'll always be my baby.”

            “Really?” he squeaked, looking up at his mother for the first time since she entered the room.

“Really,” Meryl assured him. “And between you and me, I think you're the cutest baby there is.” Sam laughed, and Meryl’s heart fluttered at the sound. She missed that sound. It was one of her favorite sounds, like Charlie’s laugh. “Now, do you want to come open presents and have some cake?” Sam nodded. The duo left the room hand in hand, neither of them taking notice of Charlie standing beside the door, who had a huge smile of pride spread across his face. If there was anything he would never get tired of seeing, it was _Monty Python,_ and the sight of Meryl with their kids.

 

 

 


	14. There You'll Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Arctic Edge Rink holds a special event, Meryl and Charlie somehow end up going together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're going back in time with this one. I've seen this idea thrown around lately, and while I'm not sure if it really happened (although I hope it did) it was a really cute idea and I decided to put my own twist on it by including the rink. Enjoy!

“Mom, come on, you already made me to the school’s prom!” Charlie complained.

            “So? This will be fun! How often do you get to go to prom on _ice_?”

“Mom, I’m not going. Who am I gonna go with anyway?”

            “Meryl’s going….”

“And I’m sure Marina’s bringing Fedor with her, so what's the point?”

            “Charlie, you'll be in college next year. Who knows how many events like these you'll get to go to?”

Charlie sighed. “Fine. I’ll go. But I am _not_ going on a ‘date’ with Meryl,” he clarified sharply; using air quotes on the word ‘date’.

            Jacqui held her hands up in defense. “Okay, okay!”

 

“Mom. _No._ I am _not_ going to the rink’s prom! You already made me go to the school’s prom! And with _Charlie_. No way. I’m not going.”

            “Aw, Meryl, come on, you had fun! And you love the ice! It’ll be fun.”

“Mom, I already told you, I’m not going.”

            “What if I told you Charlie was going?” Cheryl said smugly, having trapped her daughter with a reason.

Meryl froze. “I would say that’s great but I still don’t want to go.”

“Yeah, Jacqui?” Meryl turned to see Cheryl on the phone. “Yeah, she's going. Oh, Charlie is too? Great! Bye, Jacqui!”

“You are an awful person,” Meryl said, clearly annoyed.

            Cheryl smiled. “You'll thank me someday.”

Meryl snorted. “Oh yeah, when? When Charlie and I are living three blocks away with a dozen kids?”

            Cheryl raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

Meryl threw her arms up. “Ugh!” she stormed off to her room.

            “We can go dress shopping tomorrow!” Cheryl called after her. Her door slammed.

* * *

 

 

The night of the dance, Meryl had chosen a lilac skating dress that still looked like a prom dress, which had been Cheryl’s one rule. She was carpooling with Tessa, who had gone full on princess with her light blue ballroom skating gown. Meryl didn’t understand the big hype about prom, and Tessa was a sophomore, anyway.

            The ride to the rink consisted of Tessa telling Meryl how she had been on the phone with Scott for two hours making sure their colors were coordinated, and Meryl nodding politely, pretending to listen. In all honesty, she was nervous. Whether she liked it or not, this was most definitely a date.

 

When they arrived, Tessa and Meryl first crossed paths with Tanith and Ben. Tanith was wearing a simple pastel orange dress, which both Meryl and Tessa complimented her on, and Ben wore a black suit with an orange flower pinned to his jacket.

            “Was it a rule to come with your partner?” Meryl muttered to Tessa.

“No, but most people did. Besides, what would the single skaters do?” Meryl shrugged.

 

“Yo, Tess!” someone called from across the room.

“Scotty!” Tessa squealed, and Meryl covered her ear. Tessa ran over to Scott, who was wearing a light blue tux. It took Meryl a second to realize Charlie was next to him, because he was hiding behind Scott’s blue top hat.

            “Hey,” Meryl said shyly. Why was she shy? She was never shy around Charlie. She'd gotten over that when they were twelve.

“Hey,” he replied, equally shy. “You…you look great,” Charlie said. He had a black tux with a dark purple tie. Meryl blushed and looked down at her skirt.

            “Thanks. You look great, too.”

 

By the time everyone had loosened up from the shyness, they were on the ice, skating to all the party songs. They got Charlie to do the robot, and Meryl to do the worm, but the best part was when everyone—including Marina—joined in to a group dance to “Thriller”.

 

The dreaded moment of the slow song had approached, and Tessa and Scott were the first to start dancing. Everyone around them whispered things like, “They are _so_ getting married when they grow up” and “How are they not dating?”

            Eventually, Meryl and Charlie were pushed to dance with each other, and as awkward as it felt at first, they began to feel like they were just doing another program, but they remained silent. They instantly recognized the song. It was the Faith Hill song from the _Pearl Harbor_ movie they had seen together. Unable to look each other in the eye, Meryl and Charlie stood there, absorbing in the lyrics.

 

_When I think back on these times, and the dreams we left behind, I'll be glad cause I was blessed to have you in my life. When I look back on these days, I'll look and see your face. You were right there for me._

Meryl looked up at Charlie with an awkward smile as he looked down on her with the same reaction. They both stiffened.

 

_…And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me. Your love made me make it through, oh; I owe so much to you. You were right there for me… Cause I always saw in you, my light, my strength, and I want to thank you now for all the ways. You were right there for me, for always._

Neither of them said a word.

* * *

When Charlie dropped Meryl off at her house, they both had a red-orange rose from the dance. They sat there in the car, fiddling with it for a minute, before they both turned to the other to speak, and laughed.

            “You first,” Charlie insisted.

“Thank you for making tonight fun,” Meryl said sincerely.

            “Aw, come on, it wasn’t that bad, you know, for a prom on ice.”

Meryl laughed. “Yeah, but still. I really didn’t want to go at first. But I’m glad I did. Now we just have to hope Marina doesn’t choose that damn slow song for a show performance.” Charlie jokingly widened his eyes, and Meryl laughed.

            “We’d be _lucky_ if that’s all she chose. Have you seen Tessa and Scott’s?” Meryl laughed again.

“Really, though, thank you. I know that whenever I’m scared to do something, I can always count on you. Because you’ll be there for me.”

            Charlie blushed. “It’s my job. I’m here for life.”

Meryl smiled and leaned over and quickly kissed him on the mouth before she sat back down. “ ’Night, Charlie,” she said with a smug smile, seeing Charlie’s shocked expression.

“ ’N-Night,” he replied.

As Meryl walked towards her house and Charlie drove off, only one thing was on their minds. They had found the person they would spend the rest of their life with. They knew it in that moment. And they had been lucky enough that that person was their best friend, and their partner.

 

 

 


	15. Secret Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback to right after Meryl and Charlie come home from Sochi with a big secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been meaning to do this prompt for a while, so here it is! Next chapter will go back to family prompts. Enjoy!

“It feels so _good_ to be back, even if it’s only for two days,” Meryl sighed, plopping down in the car.

            Charlie laughed. “I can’t wait to see DJ. And Mom, and Dad, and Paul, and Cheryl…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to rub this medal in Clay’s face,” Meryl replied bluntly.

            Charlie burst out into his adorable laughter that made Meryl’s heart flutter every time. “And why is that? Besides the fact that his gorgeous older sister is a three-time Olympic medalist.”

Meryl rolled her eyes, but Charlie caught her blush. “Because when we first started skating together he said we wouldn’t make it, so I made him a bet. We get a gold medal before we’re 30, and he has to do something I dare him to do.”

            Charlie snorted. “And what, exactly, is that dare?”

Meryl opened her mouth before slumping back into her seat with a frown. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I need ideas.”

            “Oh, I’ll _definitely_ help you with this one. Anything to make Clayton look like a moron.” Meryl giggled, and the sound warmed Charlie’s heart.

“So.” His inched his hand across the seat to meet hers. “Are we going to tell them?”

            Meryl's eyes widened in horror. “No! Not yet. I mean, they’ll just think it was spur of the moment after the medal. Which it wasn’t. Okay? Keep your mouth shut. I know that’s hard for you,” she teased. Charlie poked her side and she cringed while she laughed, slapping Charlie’s arm playfully.

* * *

 

They arrived at the Davis home, and they opened the door slowly.

            “Mom? Dad? Clay?” Meryl called. She flipped the light switch on.

“Welcome home!” everyone screamed out, and Meryl jumped…right into Charlie's arms. Charlie shielded her; he was scared at first too, but once they realized what it was they awkwardly pulled apart. Charlie cleared his throat, Meryl pulled down her jacket.

            “Oh, my babies! We’re so proud of you!” Cheryl cooed, coming over to envelope both into a tight hug.

“Good to see you, too, Mom. It’s only been a few days, though,” Meryl said, gently prying her mother’s arm from her suffocating throat.

            “Hey. You're a gold medalist now. I can hug you as much as I want, you understand?” Cheryl poked Meryl's nose, and her daughter smiled at her.

“Yeah, Mom. I know, I know. I remember Vancouver.”

 Meryl and Charlie went around the room hugging and thanking their friends and family. Charlie couldn’t help but feel like it was like a meet and greet. Meryl yawned soundly and Jacqui insistently suggested they should go take a nap before dinner, to which Meryl and Charlie eagerly agreed.

            They curled up in Meryl's childhood bed, facing each other, staring into each other’s eyes. “I still can’t believe we won,” Meryl whispered.

“I know! It’s so unreal…” Charlie trailed off, rubbing Meryl's knuckle. Before they knew it, they were sound asleep, holding hands. Not in the way they had for the past ten years; this was noticeably different. It was…more meaningful.

* * *

 

An hour later, Clayton climbed up the stairs with an annoyed thump. “Mer! Charlie! Dinner’s ready!” no answer. He sighed. He hated when Meryl didn’t reply, because Cheryl would always make him go upstairs and get her. “Olympic gold medalists,” he called in a monotone voice before bursting into his sister’s room and covering his mouth.

            The slowly crawled back down the stairs.

“Well?” Cheryl asked. “Are they coming?”

            Clayton shook his head. “You have to see this first.”

Cheryl impatiently put a hand on her hip. “Clay, I don’t have time for another prank. Dinner’s—”

            “No, you'll love this. Go get Jacqui and Big Charlie. I’ll get Dad.”

Clayton lead the annoyed older adults to Meryl's room, where hers and Charlie snores were audible, even though they were so in sync, like everything they did, that it was as if it was from one person.

            “Oh, my God,” Jacqui said in shock.

“I _knew_ it,” Paul said smugly, holding his arm up and Big Charlie high-fived it.

            “Do you think…?” Big Charlie asked.

“Yes,” Cheryl said at the same time Clayton said, “No.” Mother and son gave each other a look that said ‘Oh, come on, you know I’m right.’

            “Oh, crap, they're waking up,” Clayton said, hearing the shuffling of sheets from the other side. “Let’s go!” the five adult scurried down the steps.

Meryl and Charlie drowsily walked into the dining room.

            “Well, hello there, sleepyheads,” Jacqui teased, and was returned with four eyes that were _not_ amused by their jet lag.

* * *

 

About halfway through the silent meal, Clayton jerked up, momentarily shaking the table.

            “Charlie, dude, that’s my foot…” he hinted, embarrassed.

Charlie blushed as red as the beets in front of him. “I’m…I’m looking for my shoe,” he insisted.

            “By the door,” Paul said, highly amused. Cheryl slapped his arm and Meryl became focused on her string beans and Charlie turned even redder.

“Meryl, sweetheart, pass me the salt?” Jacqui asked. Meryl smiled sweetly, raising her arm to reach for the salt when she immediately pulled it down, putting her fork down from her other hand and using that one instead. Everyone raised an eyebrow at her except Charlie, who pushed around his mashed potatoes.

            “Is there something going on?” Big Charlie asked, crossing his arms. He, and all the others, were trying extremely hard not to burst.

Meryl and Charlie looked at each other before they sighed in unison. “Charlie and I…” Meryl began.

            “We’re kind of…” Charlie continued.

“Well, we’re dating,” Meryl concluded, bracing herself for the speech on how dating while being skating partners is never a good idea. Instead, everyone at the table was smiling ear to ear.

            “Y-You're not gonna give us that lecture?” Charlie asked in disbelief.

“Well…” Jacqui tilted her head.

            “It’s about damn time!” Paul finished, and the rest of the parents glared, Meryl and Charlie stared at them dumbfounded, and Clayton fell out of his chair laughing.

“Clayton! Get up off the floor!” Cheryl scolded. Clayton took a minute to recover before he did as he was told.

            “Secret lovers,” he muttered with a laugh.

Meryl and Charlie looked to each other and shrugged. That’s exactly what they were, after all. Little did they know, or little did they _want_ to know, that Cheryl and Jacqui had already begun planning their wedding in their minds. Meryl exhaled heavily, and Charlie kissed her temple. They knew it was coming. They expected just as much. But they would face it like they did everything else—together.


End file.
